Study Abroad Berlin: May 30, 2016

Day 8: Aldersof science city tour/ Day 1 of Edelman and presentation day

Science City was like entering into a futuristic sci-fi movie. The scientific advancements made in this area were so impressive. The fact that this little area inside of Berlin could produce more energy that it needed using “not so efficient” panels on some buildings was really impressive. I may not be a science major, but I think that seeing the particle accelerator in action would have been a really neat thing to experience. As we walked through Aldersof, we walked next to buildings that were either offices, laboratories, part of the university, but there was also some cool housing. I thought it was really interesting how the blinds were outside of the building and were electronically managed. Our tour guide told us that of course like the rest of the area the housing was really efficient and designed to waste the least amount of energy while still being a comfortable place to live in. Some of the housing was dormitories for the university and I’m pretty sure that they are nicer than some of the ones we have back home at Tech.

The nerves of presenting definitely set in especially when the thunder started booming outside of my window a little while before we headed out to Edelman. Apparently the company had merged with another company that did energy public relations so it was actually called EdelmanErgo. I really liked the presentation that the girl from Ergo gave, although I was a little sad that she was not able to stay for our presentations. I was also intrigued that she worked with both renewable energy as well as some fossil fuels. I don’t know if it is because it seems contradictory to the renewable energy clients, but I guess it helps to be well versed in different types of energy.

I think that we could have gotten more out of Edelman if it had been a bit more personal and interactive as it had been at Navos, but you could tell that they dynamic at both companies was very different. Overall I think our presentation went pretty well and now that it’s over I think I can breathe easy. Also I had to reward myself with some delicious schnitzel for dinner. For those of you who don’t know what schnitzel is, it is simply breaded pork. So like a chicken fried steak, but it’s pretty good.After dinner, Mary, Ian, Kady, Kaleigbach, and I got caught in the rain on the way back to the hotel, but nothing could put a damper on my mood because we had gotten presentation day over with! Kady's hilarious poncho was a plus!