Today, I went down to breakfast, like usual, but I didn’t see everyone, and it felt really strange. The two weeks in Prague have come to an end, and I am exhausted but sad to leave. Having been to Prague before, and speaking the language, I wasn’t sure of how much I could expect to get culturally from this trip, but, I ended up learning so much more than I could have imagined. Dr. Sacre, and Chris were the best faculty guides we could ask for, supporting our crazy ideas, giving us the best experience possible, and just being super cool. Jana, our tour guide was amazing, that is the only way to put it. Her knowledge of Prague, and the surrounding areas is unparalleled and she is the reason we all got so much from this trip. I had never been to Terezin, Kutna Hora, or Cesky Krumlov, so these were all new experiences for me, and helped explain so much of the culture and history of a country I already know.
It is hard to write about everything we did on this trip, because we did so much, and I don’t know how we did it. From an engineering standpoint, this trip was full of unforgettable experiences, and experiences that are so unique that many locals won’t experience them. The highlights for me were the visits to Škoda and Škoda Motorsport, CEZ, and Eaton. We got an inside view into how these huge companies work, and how we can have a true impact as engineers in this world.
I am glad we were in the Czech Republic, and Prague, specifically, as they are forever interconnected, through the Pittsburgh Agreement in 1919, where the first Czechoslovak state was formed, and signed by Tomas Masaryk in Pittsburgh. This little connection makes all the experiences more personal, and special.
Overall, I am grateful for the experiences that I had on this trip, and the ability to have a glimpse into the engineering world in the Czech Republic, which is a second home. Given that this is a second home, I was able to speak to and communicate with some people on a more personal level, and through the many conversations I had, it showed that speaking broadly, we face really similar issues, and we are all very similar, and our job as engineers doesn’t change, it is to help those around us improve their lives, sometimes in ways they won’t realize.
Swanson School of Engineering 