Asteanzken zoriontsua!!! (Happy Wednesday!!!). Here is my third day recap:
Let’s set the scene a bit starting with Tuesday night;
It’s 8 o’clock, dark outside, and it is time for our program dinner. We all sit down at this long table that can seat 23 people, and begin munching on some bread. All we know is that we will receive appetizers, a main course of our choosing, and a dessert.
First appetizer: anchovies. A bold move. Important context—one person at the table is vegetarian, and another doesn’t eat seafood. So now we have two untouched plates of anchovies staring us down. Okay, cool, appetizer one: complete. Main course next? WRONG.
They then bring out croquettes, which are like fried cheese with maybe ham or other meat inside. Again, 2 full dishes for our table, and the vegetarian still cannot eat them, and someone else is gluten-free. So now there are 2 plates of anchovies and 3 plates of croquettes on the table. We are in pre-food comas. To save you the agony I endured, they brought sliced beef and a potato dish after this. The best part, we were averaging 30 minutes per appetizer. Finally, they bring us our main course and our dessert. In total, this dinner lasted for 3 whole hours. We were there so long that the metro closed, the people of Bilbao went to bed, and my stomach was not in a happy place. I know the Spaniards loved savoring meals, but three hours might be just too long for me.
Now onto the lovely day of Wednesday: Today, we were going to watch Dr. Borovetz, and Vice Dean of International Relations, Dr. Herrero, both present on their research topics.
Dr. Herrero and her team are leading a fascinating research project called Oreka Balance, focused on developing a device that monitors and tests balance in stroke patients during rehabilitation. The device includes a platform that moves forward, backward, and side to side, while sensors record how patients adjust their foot pressure in response to those shifts—providing valuable insights into their recovery and stability.
Dr. Herrero shared the long and difficult journey of bringing their balance-testing device to clinical trials. She spoke about the infamous “Valley of Death”—the funding gap that exists between government-backed research and the private investment needed to actually bring a product to market. Many promising innovations don’t make it past this stage. In fact, she joked that a bit of ignorance might’ve helped her team push through—they simply didn’t realize just how tedious and overwhelming the patenting and registration process would be. But in this case, that “ignorance” wasn’t a weakness—it was persistence disguised as blissful unawareness.
Good news, everyone: when people say I’m stubborn and a little ignorant, I can now say that it’s not a flaw—it’s innovation fuel!
What stood out most to me was that 70% of any patent income goes directly to the university, leaving only a small share for the researchers themselves. That means Dr. Herrero and her team are pursuing this project not for personal profit, but for the impact it can have on patients’ lives—a rare and inspiring kind of dedication.
After that, we had the pleasure of watching our wonderful Dr. Borovetz present on Pittsburgh, the University of Pittsburgh, and his groundbreaking research in heart transplants and mechanical heart devices.
One thing that immediately caught my attention during the presentation was the gender data he shared: 37% of undergraduates at Pitt are women, and only 26% of master’s students. Suddenly, that one calculus class where I was one of maybe 15 girls in the entire lecture hall made a lot more sense. I remember wondering where all the women went! The good news is that in Bioengineering, the gender balance is nearly 50/50—definitely a step in the right direction.
Once we finished our virtual stroll through Pittsburgh (complete with some truly iconic rainbow-gradient title slides with that weird shadow effect from Dr. Borovetz), we dove into his research. One powerful takeaway: 93% of adult heart transplant recipients survive at least one year after surgery—and for children, that number is even higher at 95%. But despite this, only 0.6% of medical research funding is invested in pediatric cardiac technology. That’s where Dr. Borovetz’s work becomes especially vital.
He’s helping lead the development of PediaFlow, a Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) designed for small children. This device, which is roughly the size of a AA battery, helps support a child’s heart while they wait for a transplant—or, in some cases, while they recover enough to avoid one entirely. It’s a dramatic improvement over the Berlin Heart, a much larger and more invasive device that rests outside the body and often requires months of hospitalization. PediaFlow could give children not only a better chance at survival but also a more normal childhood.
After our two inspiring presentations, we took a leisurely stroll over to the iconic Guggenheim Museum. One of the first things we saw was Puppy—yes, that’s actually its name. An 11-meter-tall flower-covered sculpture of a dog. Creative, right? Even better (or worse, depending on your opinion) is the fact that Puppy was created in Pennsylvania. So… we might have to take some responsibility for the name choice.
Once inside, we spent about an hour and a half wandering through the museum’s many exhibits. Some featured powerful works from the past, and others… well, let’s just say I’m pretty sure I could’ve recreated them in second grade. Suddenly, if engineering doesn’t pan out, I’m thinking I might have a shot at the art world. All I need is some lined paper and a confident title.
But not all of it was playful—some exhibits were just plain creepy. One particularly unsettling film titled YOU featured a man humming and pointing directly at us in strange, disjointed clips. It felt like a weird dream I didn’t mean to have. But hey—who am I to judge modern art?
Overall, the day was very memorable, some memories like the creepy art I wish I could erase, but you know how it goes. Keep up with more blogs, as tomorrow we will go and see Dr. Herrero’s work in action and go to a theater. Eskerrik asko irakurtzeagatik, lagunok! (Thanks for reading my friends!!!- Basque).
