This morning, we had another site visit—our first (and possibly only) U.S.-based company. Located in Saxonburg, PA, this company is developing cutting-edge technology and truly getting ahead of the curve. For example, one of their products can process 3 terabytes of information per second—a massive amount of data. I am not too familiar with the specifics of the technology, but on the business side, they are expanding significantly into numerous countries. If I had to describe Coherent to a peer, I would focus on its main divisions: networking, lasers, optics, and materials. They are very future-focused and innovative, even if the market hasn’t caught up yet.

I felt like this visit gave me firsthand insight into why so much development is happening in Vietnam. Labor-intensive work here is incredibly cheap. Factories are producing an enormous number of products, but the workers are not making a lot of money. In the second part of the tour, we saw the production of C lenses. The guide mentioned that the cost was around $0.17, with 70% of that being labor costs. Clearly, they are cutting costs while combining their high-quality products from other locations to achieve the diversified look they want. The workers receive some perks, but I’m not sure if they are enough to offset the low wages. I’m sure upper management has good working conditions, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with the factory setting, but personally, I found it a little fluorescent and cold for a workplace. I’d be curious to see what another Coherent facility looks like in a different country.

I don’t think they would reconsider their expansion plans. It feels like their primary goal is growth, and they have already accomplished so much. They haven’t reached peak profitability yet, so I think the tariffs will just be another challenge to navigate. They may need to strategize before committing, but ultimately, they would find a way because expansion is beneficial in the long run.

After the site visit and lunch, we headed to a basketball court/gym to lose to the UEF students (and celebrate Quang’s birthday). We played soccer against some incredibly skilled UEF club players. It was honestly more competitive than I expected, but we still lost pretty badly. It was a lot of fun, even though it was extremely hot and humid.