We started our morning off with a presentation and tour of Coherent, a cutting edge manufacturing company of high-tech components and equipment used in lasers, communications, defense, and more. If I had to describe Coherent to a peer, some words I would use are independent, innovative, and incredible. We had the pleasure of touring their facilities where they created and quality checked their products. Coherent is special in that it’s fully vertically integrated and owns the sourcing, manufacturing, and general creation of its product, making it less vulnerable to external trends in the market like tariffs which are becoming more relevant.

Overall, I think Coherent was one of the much larger scale operations we’ve visited so far. They already have a very large presence in the United States where they produce most of their defense technology. With their expansion to Vietnam, they are diversifying their operations to hedge against threats like tariffs and higher costs in other countries. Even with the general cost of expansion, they seem to be doing well with expanding in Vietnam with general factors such as lower cost of labor and integration to Vietnamese culture and work.

After the site visit, we participated in the energetic and lively UEF x Pitt sports games where we played soccer as well as folk games. The soccer was tough as we played their school team, but we still got a few scores on. I was extremely blessed to have been gifted a cake for my birthday by UEF. Overall, it was incredible! I only wish I had more cake to give out to everyone!