It’s time, game day!!! After countless days of touring companies and learning about their view on the current market and future outcome, it was time to present our view on the situation of our company. This was the latest day we had to wake up. Our presentation was at 2pm which gave us plenty of…
Day 11: The Factory That Feels Like the Car
Audi made it very loud and clear that they were going all in on electric cars. When touring the BMW factory, they mentioned that they were looking to get into the electric market as they’re adapting it in some of their cars. But they haven’t taken a full stance on getting into luxury electric vehicles…
Day 10: Old Bridges, New Chips: Regensburg’s Quiet Balance
Visiting Aumovio changed the way I think about everyday products because it showed how much technology and engineering go into components most people never notice. Up until this tour, we saw all of the things you expect upon making a car. From the robots that make the cars, the machines that lift parts, interior, painting….
Day 9: The Scale of Things: MAN, Art, and the Weight of History
Today was a very unique visit. It was related to the automotive industry in the sense of producing engines, but the scale at which they can produce engines was astounding. We arrived at the factory around 9 am after driving for two hours. I passed out that morning on the bus ride over. When entering…
Day 8: Arbeit Macht Frei: A Day at Dachau
Today was the first time we really got a grasp on the effect of Hitler and his Nazi regime. Upon arriving at the camp we were told that this camp was very large in terms of scale. When we walked 15 minutes just to get to the entrance I understood. Our tour guide first started…
Day 11 – Aumovio
After getting a really good night of sleep, we started what was our second to last company visit of the trip. After a bus ride, we arrived at Aumovio, a company that builds circuit boards and software for vehicles. We started the visit with a presentation where we learned about what the company does and…
Day 7: From Slow Streets to Crowded Squares: Augsburg vs. Munich
Today we visited Munich. I was very excited for this trip because we were able to see another city in Germany, which allowed us to see the difference in culture. It reminded me of America in a sense, how you can go from one city to another, and the entire environment feels different. The trip…
Day 6: The Eatery Can Wait: Lunch, Soccer, and a Free Day Abroad
After a long week of thousands of steps and countless site visits, we had a day to ourselves. We started the morning off by heading to the University ourselves. This was the first time we had caught the train by ourselves to the University. This was a very easy experience; it only took 15 minutes….
Day 5: Steps, Alps, and Chandeliers: A Day at Neuschwanstein
As a child, you always hear of castles and see them in movies, but to be in one was an entirely different experience. This morning we woke up pretty early and departed for the castle around 6:30 am. After arriving at the castle, the first thing you notice is the castle, but the more obvious…
Day 4: The Company That Builds the Robots That Replace Them
Today we visited Kuka. Kuka is an automotive company that focuses on robots that can build cars and various other products. They have machines that can range from 25,000 to 1 million dollars. The machines are mostly put together by humans, with some of the process being done by other machines. Kuka produces robotic arms…
Day 3: Robots, Rotations, and the Road Ahead: A Day at BMW
Today we toured our first facility.. The drive was about an hour long. After arriving at the BMW facility the first thing that stood out to me was the sheer size of the factory and the museum. As we entered, I was astounded by the size of the operation. As soon as you enter the…
Day 2: Quieter Cities, Smaller Plates: First Impressions of Augsburg
Monday morning we started our departure at 8am. This was the first time we caught the train in the city. This experience was very surprising to me, the Germans are allowed to walk on the bus without their bus pass being checked. Unlike in America where you have to tap, here they only make you…
Day 1 – Quiet Streets, Colorful Stories: First Impressions of Augsburg
As we started to descend for our landing, the first thing I noticed was the vivid green and yellow fields. The color of the fields looks so much more vivid than back home. When we exited the plane, the first thing that caught my attention was the quietness. In my mind, I assumed Germans were…
The Journey Comes to an End
Honestly this trip was a load of fun but it was very physically exhausting. Experiencing German culture was a great experience. Between the early mornings, long days, and constant travel, I was definitely feeling it by the time our free day arrived and definitely was excited to go home on Saturday. As the trip started…
The Best View of the Trip
With no scheduled company visits or presentations, I decided to spend my free day in Salzburg, Austria with some of the other members of my group. We had heard good things about the city before the trip from the group before us, and since it was only a short train ride away, it seemed like…
Presentation Under Pressure
The best part about this day was easily the fact that we could sleep in. After waking up no later than 6am for the last 3 days, catching up on sleep was a relief to say the least. I met up with my group, we found a room and then wrapped up our presentation on…
The Visit I Had Been Waiting For
This had to be my favorite tour of the entire trip. Immediately when we got to the factory there was a show room and a gift shop that I naturally gravitated towards. Within the show room the first car that caught my attention was one of my dream cars, an Audi RS5 Avant. Its a…
The Technology Behind the Wheel
What was supposed to be a tour of the company Continental, turned into a rather different tour which I knew from the beginning was going to be completely different. Aumovio was actually a branch of Continental that had split off the company in September 2025. The reason for the spin off was that the branch…
The Industry Behind Everyday Life
As compared to the other companies, MAN definitely offered a different perspective on the shifts in the automotive market that were the subject of everything we had seen so far. This company was a clear example of how the economy is dependant on industries and companies we do not normally see in commercials or think…
The Weight of History
When we got to the actual camps after all of the introductory talks and historical discussions, immediately the first thing that jumped out was how big this camp was. It was vast, spanning probably just as big if not bigger than the plot of land the Cathedral of learning was on which to me was…