Today was a really late start since we didn’t have anything planned until 2:00. This meant I had the perfect opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep. I slept until about 12:00 PM today before getting ready and then heading down to the library (which I didn’t even know existed). There to meet…
Tag: Ishan Patel
UvA Business Visit – The Netherlands Day 11
Today, we had no company visits. Instead, we started our day at 10:30 and headed to the Universitiet van Amsterdam, or UvA. To be completely honest, I did not really learn anything related to concept to customer or the supply chain during the visit, but it was still an interesting experience nonetheless. When we arrived…
The Future of Farming – The Netherlands Day 10
We started our day around 9:00 today by heading to Utrecht, which is the city that Sophia is from. Once we arrived at Utrecht, we met with Sophia who brought us to Aurea Imaging. Aurea is a company that specializes in precision agriculture, which involves drone imaging and data processing for farming. I found this…
War: A Capitalist Ideology – The Netherlands Day 9
Today, we started our day by heading to Vrije Universitiet Amsterdam, which is one of two major universities here is Amsterdam. We followed the VU equivalent of a Pitt Pathfinder around the campus for about a half an hour before going for lunch. After lunch, we spent another 20 minutes looking for the bus stop…
Vintage Market and Alumni- The Netherlands Day 8
Today was a structured free day, meaning that we didn’t really have any company visits or educational activities scheduled. Instead, we all went to IjHallen, which is the largest vintage market in Europe. The weather was beautiful, so it was outdoors today which was really nice. In order to get to the market, we had…
Dam it’s Windy – The Netherlands Day 7
Today we woke up around 8:00 to head to the Watersnoodmuseum, which is a museum all about the flood in 1953. According to the exhibits, a large storm hit The Netherlands on February 1, 1953. This storm surge caused a major flood that killed almost 2000 people. Though there were dykes in place to protect…
Koeien – The Netherlands Day 6
Today was yet again an early morning. We were told that we would be getting another bagged breakfast, so naturally many of us woke up a bit earlier to eat a more filling breakfast in the Generator. We then departed for the metro around 8:00 and took it to Central Station. Unfortunately, once we got on…
Bridges and Soup – The Netherlands Day 5
Today, we finally got to sleep in since the day didn’t start until 12:00, so that was nice. The first part of today’s educational experience consisted of traveling to the Red Light District in order to see the world’s first 3D-printed bridge, which was designed and built by MX3D. I found the design to be very…
Frolicking with Buds: The Netherlands Day 4
Today we woke up bright and early and we’re already on a bus to Royal Flora Holland by 6:45. It was about a half an hour bus ride to the warehouse, but once we got there we quickly learned how impressive the tulip industry is here in The Netherlands. The warehouse measures 740 by 700…
Cheese, Windmills, Clogs, and Rain: The Netherlands Day 3
Today, we woke up to rain, and as I write this, there are still raindrops hitting the window of my room. After breakfast, the group met our tour guide, Felipe, who led us to Zaanse Schans, a Dutch town filled with historic windmills. Once we arrived at Zaanse Schans, Felipe explained to us a bit…
Sustainability, Again: Day 2 in Amsterdam
We started off the day today at 8 AM for breakfast before heading out to our first educational activity of the trip: a meeting with former vice president of sustainability at KLM, Karel Bockstael. KLM is the flagship airline of the Netherlands, not to mention a front runner in sustainable aviation. Being a bioengineering major,…
Beware of Bikes! Day 1 in Amsterdam
After spending a the entirety of Saturday traveling, we finally arrived in The Netherlands around 8:00 AM. We then took a bus to where would be staying: a hostel in East Amsterdam known as The Generator. Once we dropped our luggage off and sat through a short but informative orientation, we were finally able to…
Coming to Amsterdam!
Hey everybody! My name is Ishan Patel and I am finishing up my first year as bioengineering student here at the University of Pittsburgh. I am also pursuing a minor in chemistry and a certificate in sustainability. On campus I am a member of Steel City Raas, which is an Indian cultural dance team here…