Today was a very long day with a lot of activities. We started the day at Vrije University and got our own tour of the campus. It had some astonishing buildings and the tuition really shocked me. For out of country students, the tuition is about $15,000 dollars, which is less than half of in-state Pitt tuition! The university has a start hub which is basically for new startups that want to share their ideas. I think it’s very interesting that the university promotes startups themselves and wants to hear from students.

We then traveled to KLM and were able to get up close and personal with an airplane! They let us into their hangar and we were able to see the ins and outs of a plane. It was very interesting to see all of the seats stripped down and the engines taken apart. The entire inspection process of a plane is very detailed and it ensures that there is no room for failure. The engine was huge, with a high pressure and low pressure section. I thought this design was an impressive feat of engineering since the entire engine works systematically, and it can last for roughly 20 years before retiring. The planes themselves were built with parts that were meant to be reused, and even the Coke can that I had today might have been part of an old KLM plane. We later got to see a building where they test engines. Unfortunately, there were no engines being tested at the time but we were able to visit the control room. The room was astonishing with buttons everywhere and levers that I really wanted to flip. The workers told us that the first time seeing a live engine tested is a surreal experience and makes you in awe of the beautiful work of engineering. I can only imagine.

After KLM, we all had a group dinner with some yummy vegetable stew. We followed up dinner with a live podcast called “Designing Cities For the Future.” To be brutally honest, I thought the podcast was terrible. I understand that there is a lot to learn about sustainability within urban areas, but none of the speakers talked about that topic once. They brought up topics such as art, and different types of economies that they couldn’t even explain themselves. They also kept trying to label themselves with unconventional labels, such as “uneconomist”, which I don’t even think they knew what that meant. Whenever the audience tried to ask important questions, the speakers avoided the answer and instead responded with another irrelevant question. They are very hopeful for the future, but as Frank says, “Hope is not a plan.” This statement stands true as none of the speakers talked about their plans. At least the guest artist was very good and we got to talk and exchange information after. I’m VERY exhausted and ready to call it a night, doei!