Although we had a bright and early morning, I managed to be in the lobby on time this morning! Per usual, the breakfast was delicious. I even noticed that there were little tiny glass bowls for the jelly. I don’t know if this is made in America, but it was my first time seeing it! I thought it was an amazing idea.

Following breakfast, we all got onto the bus, and headed off to tour two facilities of Hoerbinger, as well as listen to several presentations. The first facility we went to was the facility that focused on valves that could be used in several applications. My favorite application that was described was valves used in the medical industry. As a student in the Swanson School of Engineering, I am pursuing a major in bio-medical engineering. So, listening to applications in the medical industry was very fascinating. It was a lot more technical and specific than the second facility, which focused more on the automobile industry. While touring the first facility, we were asked to wear shoe covers, and the shoe covers made me feel like I was waddling like a duck.

Although the shoe covers were very awkward, they were mandatory for the tour, and well-worth it! Additionally, for part of the tour, we had to wear white lab coats (pictured below). I was very interested throughout all of the tour. I asked several questions because the machines were very intricate. The making of the piezo chip was very cool and fascinating to watch. In February of this year, they bought out the manufacturer of piezo technology. This new move for Hoerbiger was smart because it allows them to own the main part of the technology, as well as a new form of profit because several other companies continue to use piezo technology. This allows for Hoerbiger to continue to grow as a company, and become more stable, which is one of their focuses as a company.

In the second facility visit, we walked through the production of three main ring-like substances that help gear shifts become faster, and more precise. Although very interesting, I found something from the presentation to be even cooler. With an increase in electric vehicles, Hoerbiger has/had to switch their focus on different aspects of a car. Therefore, they are innovative and use their knowledge of the products and just apply it in a way in order to keep appealing to their customers. We were not allowed to take pictures during the tour of this second facility, but it felt a lot more like a large-scale production facility than the first facility.

I noticed that many of the business majors tended to like the second facility visit, and the engineering students tended to like the first facility visit. Overall, I got to learn a lot! After we finished up with the company, we headed off to the village: Oberammergau. Walking through the village, I felt like I was in the village in the movie Frozen. It was very cozy, and the sight of the Alps made the skyline so pretty to look at.

When the bus arrived, it was raining pretty heavily, but luckily it cleared up just in time for the group to take the cable car up to the Alp mountains. The second we got to the top of the mountains, my jaw dropped in astonishment of the beauty I was so fortunate to witness:

Finally, we had dinner back down in Oberammergau! It was very a fun, but once again…a tiring day. On the bus ride back, almost every student slept at least some what, if not the whole bus ride (It was at least an hour-long ride). I can’t wait to keep sharing my experiences!

Talk soon!

Kaylee