For our fifth day in Cyprus, we first went to the Cyprus Marine & Maritime Institute (CMMI). One of the first things I noticed was a large quote by Barack Obama on the wall, which read “We are reminded that, in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame, but rather how well we have loved and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better”. I was surprised that out of every quote about general sustainability, they chose one by an American President. Regardless of politics, this is one of my new favorite quotes, and I try to live by a similar outlook on life as my parents raised me with a similar mindset.
Moving on to the lectures, Linda, the Compliance Manager, spoke to us first. We learned that CMMI is a private and non-profit research institute whose mission is to “drive sustainable blue growth” and work towards a carbon-neutral industry. They are also trying to raise awareness of the importance of respecting our oceans, as well as bringing more people to the shipping industry. They have many partnerships, for example, the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MCS), which I did a presentation on and we are going to visit during our time here. MCS is one of the world’s largest (by container) cargo shipping companies and is headquartered in Cyprus. Something that CMMI emphasizes in its work is sustainability, which is a shared concern with the Swanson School of Engineering at Pitt. We have the Mascaro Center for Sustainability, and the first-year conference had a focus on sustainability.
One thing that surprised me regarding sustainability in Cyprus, however, is the lack of recycling. This is especially different from the States because reusable water bottles are not so much a thing here, so more people buy plastic water bottles. A thought I had is that recycling may be too expensive and just not worth it. I do know that the US is not as good about recycling as the average American might think, and completely throwing bins of recycling in the garbage is more common than one might think.
A large part of what CMMI does is optimize processes such as the carbon usage of sea vessels, and “sea vessel optimization” as a whole. This relates to Industrial Engineering in many ways, mainly through making processes in the marine and shipping industries more efficient, which is what IE is all about.
After CMMI, we visited St. Lazarus Church, which is the burial site of Saint Lazarus as well as a location that has been mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. The cover photo of today is a photo of the outside of the Church. The inside of the Church was one of the most ornate and stunning buildings I have ever seen.