Today we visited an engineering firm called Tekniker which specializes in research and development for a variety of fields from aeronautics to healthcare. The first stop on our tour of the facility was a lab space where they calibrated, measured, and tested different machine parts to make sure they worked properly and were optimized. After that we got to see some of the different microchips and sensors they developed such as one to measure the speed of blood coagulation. Next, we got to see some of the actual projects that they were workinng on such as a face recognition software that can read the emotions and movements of different people that it scans. Finally, we also got to see the non-engineering parts of the first such as the gym. climbing wall, and the actual main workspace where the employees were.
After leaving Tekniker we headed to the Painted Forest which is where artwork was put onto trees by students at the University of the Basque Country. It was interesting to see how you had to look at the trees at a certain angle in order to see the full artwork. Next we headed to Guernica which was historically known for being completely destroyed by bombing during the Spanish Civil War. The city was bombed by Nazi soldiers who allied with the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. Franco wanted to unify Spain under one culture which is why he disliked the Basque region’s unique heritage. The devastation of the bombing was captured by Pablo Picasso painting called Guernica. The painting was interesting not only because of the cubism technique employed by Picasso but also because of the representation of God and the church as this all-seeing eye that indifferently stood by as Guernica was destroyed. Finally, we also got to see the parliament building of the Basque Country which had beautiful portraits of the lords and citizens from the past.