What do hydrogen fuel cells, roads made from compacted ash, and photon-powered computers have in common?
They’re all innovations that engineers are designing or deploying to help make Germany a bit greener—just ask the undergraduates who went to go see them up close.
Through the Real World Engineering Program, now in its 13th year, a cohort of students recently embarked on a four-week journey to Germany to witness the engineering principles they’ve learned in the classroom in action.
Namky Eun Llovet, a senior mechanical engineering major, was excited to hear that the program was headed to Germany this year, a nation considered a frontrunner in manufacturing, mechanical engineering, and sustainability. He also had a little bit of German in his back pocket from some Duolingo lessons he’d completed in high school.
Many of the students on the trip, however, didn’t know the language at all. Luckily, they all kicked off the program with a three-week German language bootcamp in the town of Freiburg im Breisgau, where they quickly grew close. Especially strong bonds were forged over food, whether it be Lange Rote bratwurst—Freiburg’s famous “long red” sausage—or fresh fruit.
