Now that the dust has settled a bit, I truly took the time to reflect on this amazing experience. The experience I keep returning to most is our visit to Dachau. Throughout the trip, we toured world-class companies, historic cities, and cultural landmarks, but standing in a place where so much human suffering occurred had…
Tag: Plus3 Germany
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Day 15: The Journey Home
Waking up this morning, I was filled with many emotions. For one, I was very exhausted and excited to go home, but on the other hand, I was very sad to leave because I had such a great time here. I learned so much not just about Germany, but about myself individually. It was great…
Day 14: Free Day in Munich!
After a very taxing, but phenomenal 2 weeks, we made it to the last day, and I was very grateful to have a free day to ourselves to explore whatever we pleased. While we all previously planned a day in Salzburg, Austria, me and 2 other guys in the group loved our day in Munich,…
Day 14: A very sad goodbye to Plus3 Germany
Typically by the end of a long trip I feel ready to go home to get a good nights sleep in my own bed and have a homecooked meal . For the first time in a long time, I was dreading flying home and leaving Germany. I think what made it so hard was the…
Day 13: Presentation Day!
Presentation day, probably not everyone’s favorite day of the trip, but a great chance for us to showcase everything we have learned the past 2 weeks. All in all, other than our presentations, there was nothing else on our itinerary, so I was able to sleep in a little bit and get my head right…
Day 12: Saving The Best For Last
We made it, our last company visit, and frankly I can’t believe we are almost done with the trip. These days have flown by, but time does fly when you’re having fun. Audi is a household name in the automotive industry, and I was so excited for it. When we got to the factory, there…
Day 11: Inside Aumovio and The Future of Automotive Technology
This visit felt special in a way because we had seen all the ways in which you make a car, and this visit completed it. Aumovio focuses more on the brains and electronics inside modern vehicles, rather than building entire cars. These systems and software sit inside modern vehicles, parts that you don’t immediately see,…
Day 10: Built to Move: Inside MAN Truck & Bus
This was our first company visit since KUKA on Wednesday, so I was excited to get back into things. This visit is quite interesting compared to the BMW and KUKA because MAN deals with mainly trucks and buses. We made our way to the facility and had a guest talk with one of the workers…
Day 13: Saved the best for last!
For our free day, most of our group decided to go to Salzburg, Austria! I learned this is where the Sound of Music was filmed, and students from prior Plus3 trips recommended Salzburg as an easily accessible place to day trip to! We took the train from Augsburg to Munich around 8am, and then transferred…
Day 9: The First Ever Nazi Concentration Camp
You’ve watched the movies, the documentaries, read the books, but until you are really there, you don’t realize the effect the Hitler and his Nazi regime had on the millions of people whose lives were forever changed by persecution, suffering, and loss. When you enter the camp, you walk through a metal gate, and it…
Day 8: The Best City in Germany
After another good night’s sleep, I feel very energized and caught up on some much needed rest from the past week. Today was another day on the itinerary I was really looking forward to, our day trip to Munich, one of the most beautiful cities in Germany. We departed to Munich by train at around…
Day 7: Insights from Bloomberg
After 4 straight jam packed days, we had a very light day planned for today which included lunch at the canteen and a guest talk from an employee at Bloomberg talking more about European automakers in 2026. We didn’t need to be at the University until 1:30, so I took that time to catch up…
Day 6: Better Than I Imagined
As I said in my last post, and we can all agree, this was probably the most anticipated day of the entire trip. I’ve seen the castle countless number of times in my TikTok feed, but I was super anxious to get out there and see it in person. The one downside to this day…
Day 5: From Augsburg to Automation: Our Visit to KUKA
After seeing KUKA robots in action all over BMW yesterday, I was very excited to see the work that goes into making these robots. We arrived at the site which was directly off the train tracks and made our way inside to check in. We started the visit with a guest talk in front of…
Final Reflection
A few months ago, I had a meeting with my advisor, and she mentioned this opportunity to me. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but as time went on, I realized it could be an incredible experience. I felt like I hadn’t gotten involved as much as I should have during my time…
The Finale
There is a view from the Marienbrücke bridge at Neuschwanstein that I do not think I will ever fully get out of my head. Standing there, looking out at a 19th century castle framed by the Bavarian Alps, surrounded by people who two weeks earlier were strangers, after a week of factory floors and conference…
Heading Home…sike!
Except I am not heading home. Not yet anyway. While the rest of the group navigated customs, caught their connecting flights, and made their way back to Pittsburgh, I said my goodbyes at the hotel and waited for my dad to arrive in Munich. What followed was something I had been quietly praying for, for…
Wherever the wind takes us
After two weeks of schedules, bus departures, factory tours, and presentation deadlines, Friday had no agenda. Just Munich, three good friends, and nowhere we had to be. We had already seen Munich as a group the previous Saturday, but experiencing it without a guided tour or a meeting point to return to is a completely…
The Finish Line
Presentation day. After two weeks of factory tours, city walks, research sessions, and late-night prep, it all came down to this. I started the morning at the cafeteria and then met up with my group. By that point, we had rehearsed enough times that everything felt locked in. We knew our material cold, and we…
Day 15: The Journey Home With a Surprise at the End
They say time flies when you’re having fun, and yeah it sure does. I woke up this morning with a pit in my stomach and not only because I was worried about my bag being immensely overweight, but because I was not ready to leave. I headed down for one last Ibis Hotel breakfast and…
