After some much needed rest this morning, we visited the Kunsthalle Praha. The director of the museum, Ivana Goossen, is a University of Pittsburgh MBA graduate, and was very generous to give us insight and a backstage tour of all the artwork. By far my favorite piece was the NYC taxi cab with trees growing out of it, and it ended up being one of the best talking pieces of the night for the culminating alumni reception.
At the alumni reception, I had the pleasure of talking to Svilen Petkov, the Senior Vice President of the West, South, and East European regions of the Dormakaba corporation. Talking with him, I learned a great deal about his company’s involvement in security, especially at airports. Dormakaba plays a special role in security on airplane gates and with passport control. As part of his job, Svilen was telling us about the frequency of his travels, and how much he enjoyed his work in Europe.
Looking back on our conversation, I am very glad that I received Svilen’s perspective on working outside of the United States. Although I enjoy the United States and could never truly see myself working permanently in Europe, the conversation did make me think about if I would want to work at a company that has partnerships in other countries. This trip has shown me the work-life balance of studying abroad and all of the adventure that comes even with being on an academic trip. I believe that after my conversations at the Kunsthalle Praha, I would very much like to work at a company that requires me to travel as much as Svilen’s does, and am very grateful I had the chance to talk to him today.
Swanson School of Engineering 