On our fourth day of the trip we had more time to explore Augsburg. We started the day at KUKA, a company that specializes in industrial robots. The day before we were at BMW, where we saw KUKA robots in action, quickly building parts of BMW cars. It was interesting, at BMW there were hardly…
Category: School of Business
Day 4: Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! Birthday in Germany.
This Tuesday was my birthday! Before departing for Germany I was so bummed that I wasn’t going to get to spend my birthday with my friends from home but, after the trip got into motion, I was so happy I got to spend this big day in Germany. I got to see BMW headquarters and…
The Moroccan Project
ANDD represents another example of Morocco’s strive for innovation, but more specifically, the role women play in it. With all the site visits we have attended, I’ve gotten the idea that Morocco is very centered around keeping tradition while also leveraging things like social media to sustain those industries. This applied especially today, where the…
Wrapping up our La Fortuna Adventures
Today, we visited Arenal Mundo Aventura, or AMA, where we attended an informational lecture about the organization and went on a walking tour around the property. We were able to see both the nature surrounding the park and the different zip line courses throughout the rainforest, which I found very cool to see, as we…
Pitt to Uruguay
One of the most interesting things I learned during this trip so far is honestly how Argentina’s healthcare system is even still functioning with the amount of economic pressure it faces. During presentations from both the Omint Group and the administrators at Austral University, they openly admitted that they almost wake up every morning praying…
Perón, Power, and Public Healthcare
Today was a little different from our other days focused mostly on hospitals and clinics. We spend much of the day touring the city and learning more about the history and culture of Buenos Aires. One of the coolest things we saw was a building that was once the tallest concrete building in the world,…
Pool Time Today!
Today we visited a local La Fortuna tourism company. We got to learn about how they differentiate themselves from competitors. They ran through the basic ideas of what running an ecotourism company in Costa Rica looks like. I got some free time in the afternoon and went to the pool and worked on my group…
Gus Coleman – Day 8: Day-Trip to Uruguay
Today we woke up very early, at 6:45, to take a boat from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento. It ended up being one of the most memorable days of the trip. We boarded a large ferry that crossed the Rio de la Plata and arrived in Colonia, where we began with a historical walking…
Postcards from Morocco: Profit Meets Purpose
It’s Day 10 in Morocco! And another beautiful day in Rabat! We started the day off with a site visit to the Technopark of Rabat, where we met with young Moroccans from the Moroccan Center for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (MCISE). Social Entrepreneurship is a term that we haven’t heard so far in Morocco, but…
Fortunate to be in La Fortuna!
Today we attended a marketing lecture and had time to ourselves for lunch, exploring the local restaurants in La Fortuna. Some of the girls went to a great place where I got chicken nuggets and fries (comfort food)! After, we went to an adorable bakery where I got a pistachio macaron and a chocolate donut…
Day 3: Getting the hang of it!
On our first full day there, we started the morning with hotel breakfast (10/10 rating by the way) and made our way over to the University of Augsburg to meet with our industry analysis groups. This day was the first time we used the public transit system in Augsburg. I found the transportation system to…
AI Can’t Replace This $3 Crepe
Today, our speaker highlighted how AI is reshaping the role that we as humans play in entrepreneurship. He was extremely optimistic about the projection and development of the industry. One thing he emphasized was how easy it has become to skip the first stages of business development, as most people now spend more time correcting…
Shipping crates and peanuts!
Week two started with a visit to Cat Lai Terminal, one of Vietnam’s biggest and busiest container ports. The sheer size of the operation is still hard to take in. The port processes ships in twelve to eighteen hour shifts and moves around 81 containers every hour. It runs every day of the year, with…
Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice
Our first full day in La Fortuna included hanging bridges, kayaking, sugar cane, and lots of rain. While it was all incredibly fun, I can see how a country dependent on tourism might struggle during its rainy seasons. However, I believe there are different ways to manage this challenge. There are large amounts of people…
Weekend get away
This weekend was a much needed change of pace. We made our way out to the Mekong Delta, and from the moment we arrived, it was clear this part of Vietnam would feel very different from the energy of Ho Chi Minh City. The landscape was greener, quieter, and the pace of life noticeably slower…
Hanging around La Fortuna
Today, we started our adventure by trekking through the rainforest, and going through the hanging bridges. Then, we made our way to Lake Arenal, where we drifted through the water on Kayaks. We later traveled to a buffet lunch, and a cacao and sugarcane tour at an organic farm. We ended our day with a…
Hanging Bridges!!
Today we visited a rain forest with hanging bridges and we kayaked on Lake Arenal. The hanging bridges were a lot scarier than I thought they would be. Kayaking was a lot of fun but very tiring. The rain didn’t affect my activities too much today. Through our trip of the rainforest it did a…
Postcards from Morocco: Bridging the Gap
If the past few days of site visits and lectures gave us the theory behind Morocco’s startup ecosystem, today was all about putting it into practice. Day 9 brought new perspectives. We moved from observing to doing, culminating in an intense, cross-cultural entrepreneurship exercise. But before we even put pen to paper, we needed a…
Postcards from Morocco: Leather, Souks, and Crafts
Day 8 of Morocco was exciting! Today was our last day in Marrakech, and after a quick morning, we made our way to a women’s cooperative. This was, hands down, one of the best experiences of my life. Immediately upon entering, I noticed how calm, controlled, and relaxing the environment felt. It was a drastic…
Mystery Street Drink
When Farah walked through her entrepreneurial journey, a key and consistent point she made was to just start. She emphasized that whether or not you have the funding, the best thing to do is begin with the idea, because time is the most valuable thing. When I think about entrepreneurship, I usually think of fully…