Today (May 10th) was the first day of company visits and we started with Hoerbiger. This is the company my group is presenting so I had to take advantage of the day. We got to see the FlowControl and Drive Technology plants. In the FlowControl building, we got to see how the Piezo control valves are made. This was the most interesting part of the visit for me because there was a lot of science behind the valves. They are capable of withstanding temperature and pressure changes and have an extremely low electric power consumption. They mentioned a strawberry contains enough energy to switch a piezo valve over 1 billion times. These valves can also be used in a variety of applications. Pretty interesting and great engineering! I also enjoyed visiting the Drive technology plant because I was able to learn more about the business side along with seeing the process and technology behind the assembly line. One of the machines in the plant was worth over 6 million euros. It was also interesting to see the company’s response as the automobile industry shifts towards electric vehicles. Hoerbiger makes a lot of products for gas engines but they mentioned working with fuel cell electric vehicles which are powered by hydrogen. Overall, the company visit was very informative and I am very excited to present about Hoerbiger.

We had to drive about an hour out near the Alps to visit Hoerbiger so afterward, we visited Oberammergau. It was a town surrounded by mountains and we took a gondola to the top of a peak. The view was amazing! You could see the whole town and the Alps. We spent a long time at the top enjoying the view and taking pictures. I finished my day with delicious bratwurst when we went down into town to go shopping and eat dinner.