Today’s agenda was packed with two Czech lectures and a company tour. A lot was learned about both Czech history and current engineering practices.
The lectures took place at Charles University in Prague, the main college in the city. We were able to condense the Czech Republic’s dense history into a 90 minute presentation. I didn’t realize how many different empires and political regimes the Czech Republic was a part of. This makes sense why there is such a sense of patriotism and string identity among the city. We also learned about engineering in the Czech Republic and how other factors influenced production in the country. I knew that the Czech Republic used to have silver mines, but I did not realize until today what industrial power they gave the country. Many people of different nationalities migrates to the Czech area and were able to develop the country into a weaponry capital of Europe.
We also toured a water treatment center called Podoli H2Oworks. Touring the facility, we were able to learn about the current water treatment methods, as well as previous methods throughout Prague’s history. I never realized that the fountains in the town square were not just for show, but were used as a way to move water from the river to populated areas before the city-wide piping system was introduced. I had previously know that water in the Czech Republic is very clean and can be drank straight from the tap. We learned about the meticulous cleaning process, being checked for quality in both the lab and by fish used as bio indicators. Overall, the general water filtration process seems very similar to what I have learned about in America, but slightly more meticulous.
Swanson School of Engineering 