To start our daily adventure we went to the heart of Amsterdam and visited the first-ever 3D-printed bridge. The bride was really cool and built into the walkway were sensors to help monitor the traffic across the bridge.

After the bridge visit, we went to MX3D. This is the company that made the 3d printed bridge. Although I’m not an engineering major I thought it was fascinating how the company created and put in the bridge. Pierre, a junior business developer for MX3D talked to us more about the steps they took and the problems they encountered. He also talks about 3D printing metal as a whole and how it can change the entire industry as we know it. Pierre talked about how right now we are in the era of educated the consumer about the benefits of 3D printing including; flexibility with design, weight, durability and more. Once consumers learn about these benefits to using 3D printing over typical molds, that’s when we can start producing more things faster, like the 3D printed bridge.

To finish off the day we went to a small local, farm-to-table restaurant. We had a few courses starting with peanut soup. The soup tasted almost like warm peanut butter and it had bean sprouts and spicy oil mixed in. Although it wasn’t necessarily my favorite dish, it was cool to try something new. Our next course consisted of crisps and pickled veggies. This was never a combination I would have come up with myself but it was good and I really enjoyed it. The main dish of the evening was a spicy rice with shredded chicken, peanuts, and a hard boiled egg. The rice was really good and really filling but it was really spicy so I had to pace myself. Finally, we had desert (my favorite). This was strawberry ice-cream with strawberries and whipped cream. This was delicious and the best way to end the night. Although we came for the food, it was nice to hear a little background about the farm, the restaurant itself, and all the volunteers that help keep it running.