Today we returned to the Bilbao School of Engineering for a couple presentations. The first was about the process of designing medical devices and all that goes into the development of them. This was very interesting from an engineering standpoint because it showed how there are much different engineering proceedings depending on the product being…
Tag: Swanson School of Engineering
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Guernica – Day 2 (10)
Today we went on two amazing hikes and saw some beautiful nature. The first hike we took a bus to with our tour guide for the day. We went to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. This was the most spectacular view I had ever seen. The hike was difficult due to the incline of the mountain…
Thank You Seoul! (Final Journal)
Introduction Collaboration, perseverance, and intelligence. In the past 70 years, Korea has evolved from a country relying on foreign investment to creating one of the largest economies in the world. It was thanks to these traits of the Korean people that they were able to kickstart the miracle on the Han River, and even today,…
Guernica – Day 1 (9)
Today we left Bilbao due to the Copa Europa Final between Manchester United and Tottenham. Our hotel got too expensive as it the the partnered hotel with the match. On the way to our new destination, Guernica, we stopped in the mountains to visit a company called Tekniker. They specialize in taking people’s dreams to…
Bilbao – Day 8
Today we started off by visiting bioengineering labs in the school of engineering. We met a PhD student who was working on the AI development of Orika and how it can be used to understand how different people balance in different ways. He showed us a jumpsuit that was used on a person to map…
Grow With the Flow: The Natural Irrigation of Rotterdam
For the eleventh day of the Plus3 Netherlands trip, our group toured the city of Rotterdam’s natural infrastructure to understand how urban designers accounted for sustainable flood prevention. Holland heavily emphasizes floodwater control due to the elevation of the Netherlands mostly remaining below sea level causing floods to occur often. As part of the guided…
Day 12: Double Dutch (Company Visits)
Today we had the opportunity to visit not one, but TWO different companies for our last full day in the Netherlands. Our day began with a long shuttle ride to the Floating Farm, which is, you guessed it, a dairy farm that floats on water. The idea behind the business is to minimize the effects…
Day 11: Romping Around Rotterdam
Today was a short day, but it was still packed with activity. The day began with a walk to the seven-floor office building housing DakAkker, an entirely green, 1,000 square meter rooftop garden. In the lobby, we met with our tour guide, and we turned right around to see the surrounding areas before stepping onto…
Dakakker
5/21/25 Today, we had the pleasure of touring Dakakker, a facility with over 1,000 square meters of green roof space. This space includes a vegetable farm, bee hives, and a chicken coop. This space is extremely sustainable in many ways. To begin, producing local produce and animal product is inherently more sustainable. The roof top…
Ranch & Research
5/22/25 Today, we had the opportunity to tour the floating farm which (as one may guess) is a farm that is floating on the water. As with any farm, the floating farm had to consider a path to make themselves a sustainable place. One stride they make towards sustainability is utilizing food that would otherwise…
Bilbao (sort of) – Day 7
Today was so far my favorite day of the trip. We started off by going to the local flea market and shopping around for a bit. After which, we got some breakfast before we took a quick bus ride to San Sebastián. Here we took a walking tour around the beach and then were set…
Bilbao – Day 6
Today was a much simpler and easy day after the previous busy day. Today we got to sleep in and then went to the Bilbao theater. We took a tour of the theater and all the historical aspects it involved. They had tons of costumes from previous plays including the most interesting to me, which…
05/22 – Floating Farm & RDM Rotterdam
Today was a really nice way to wrap up our trip–we toured the Floating Farm, which was the company I presented on during our pre-departure meetings, so I was excited to see it in person, and we also toured RDM Rotterdam. These visits were both very informational and inspiring to see the plethora of ways…
Last Day in Spain
This trip flew by, it’s hard to believe it’s basically over now. Today, we returned to Bilbao after the big game. It was clear that there was a lot of activity there yesterday. We got to do closing activities at the school of engineering, which was sad after spending so much time there. We listened…
Cowabunga! A Floating Farm!
Today was Day 12, and our last day of programming in the Netherlands. To begin our day, we met at 10:10am and took a tram to the Floating Farm. The Floating Farm is a dairy farm that houses 26 cows and floats on water. It is a private project created by two Netherlands locals. They…
Day 11: Final Day in Spain!
Today was our last full day in Spain and it was quite bittersweet. We started our day back in the Bilbao School of Engineering and learned about the design process and the steps to actually see an idea reach industry. Our first presenter was Mikel, a colleague of Saioa’s at the school of engineering. His…
One Last Day, A Thousand Lifelong Memories
Well. Today marks our last day as a group in Bilbao. I’m sad to see it go, but I know the memories I have made and the things I have learned will last a lifetime. Before I get too sentimental, let’s jump into what activities we did today. We started by going back to the…
Day 11: One Last Pintxo for the Road
Today was a kind of sad day, since it’s the last day of our program before we all leave. We went back to the university for a few more presentations, before a little closing ceremony. The first presentation we heard was about the design process, and important steps and what they involve. He first showed…
The Final Postcard: Signed with Sun, Steps, and Stories: Last Day in Spain
Kaixo lagunok! (Hello my friends- Basque). Today is a bittersweet one—our final day here in Spain. Little things have stuck with me, like confidently saying “Pardón” when passing people on the street and having a surprisingly good eye for spotting quality pintxos. We headed back into Bilbao for one last visit to the engineering school,…