It turns out even with a full night’s sleep you can still wake up tired. The day started with a walk to a building apart of the Charles University where we learned about Czech history, it was lengthy but interesting. After that we traveled to Podoli Waterworks, which is a water treatment plant located in Prague where the other plants are located outside the city. What I found most interesting was that during a certain period trees were used as pipes to transport water. To do this pole with a spiral bit on one end was used to create a hole throughout the length of the wood, the wood would also have to be replaced every 10 years as well.
After the tour we made our way back to the University Building on a lecture about the history of engineering in the Czech Republic. It all started with mining materials like silver and coal and today there are companies manufacturing cars, armored vehicles, weapons and even planes. It was very interesting how much of an impact the technological side had on the history of the Czech Republic. Many Germans and Italians were brought into the country due to their experience and knowledge in mining bringing in new cultures. Taking the resources that came from the earlier days of mining and exporting most became creating important and high demand goods and exporting them as well. The progress of Czech manufacturing was hindered during times like after the second world war whilst under the control of the Soviet Union who wanted the mostly undestroyed country since many factories were destroyed in the Soviet Union due to the war.
Swanson School of Engineering 