Today was another great day in Bilbao! We started off with a tour of Tekniker, a company with a broad field of applications! It was a ginormous facility on top of a mountain with beautiful views. They have applications in science, aerospace, health, and more! They help startup companies in the beginning of their development,…

Today was another great day in Bilbao! We started off by learning about the balance machine at the university! It was very interesting to learn about the three factors to balance, visual, auditory, and vestibular. It was also interesting to learn about base of support, center of mass, and center of pressure. We learned about…

Today was another fun day in Bilbao! We started off by doing our workshop! My team was tasked with creating a method to increase dignity during defecation for hospital patients who need to use a bedpan or diaper.  We decided to redesign a bed for hospice patients that is mostly hands-off for the nurses. The…

Today was another exciting and memorable day in Bilbao! We started the morning by trying traditional churros with hot chocolate. They were very different from the churros I am used to in America. Instead of being coated in cinnamon sugar, these churros were simpler and reminded me more of funnel cake without powdered sugar. Paired…

Today was another amazing day in Spain! Not in Bilbao today though! We went to the gorgeous San Sebastián and Zumaya. First, we unloaded at a beautiful castle at the top of a mountain. The views were absolutely stunning! You could see beach, mountains, and the city! After taking lots of pictures, we headed down…

Today was an amazing day in Bilbao! We started off with an amazing tour of Hospital Basurto. The hospital was so cool, as it had several different buildings for each department. Each building has crosses on the roof to signify it is a hospital during war. The staff gave an encapsulating presentation about the healthcare…

Today was another amazing day in Bilbao! We started off by visiting the company Gogoa. They make a lot of interesting technologies for rehabilitation! The biggest one was the exoskeleton for people who have lost the ability to walk. It is a big machine that moves your limbs for you in a walking motion. Next,…

Today, we started the day with two fascinating presentations in the School of Engineering. The first presentation focused on the reuse of pacemakers and the important research being done to make this technology safer and more accessible for patients around the world. The second presentation was about the process of designing a medical device. We…

Today we started by getting a delicious breakfast in the hotel (my favorite is the chocolate croissant)! We went to Hospital Gorliz to see the Oreka-Balance machine, and even got to test it out. We saw the nursing station where they keep their carts, medications, and a big white board with magnets giving information about…

Today was our first full day in Bilbao! We went to the engineering school to learn about Oreka-Balance and Basque Country. It was so intriguing to learn about the process behind creating a medical device, including patents and testing. The Oreka-Balance machine is used at the Gorliz Hospital to test the balance and center of…

Hello! My name is Emily Lehman and I am a first year bioengineer. I am so excited to be a part of the Plus3 Spain program! I am currently on the cellular track for bioengineering, and hope to work in tissue engineering or with artificial organs. I am really excited for bioengineering, because I get…