Emma Beeler's Story
I never really thought I would get the chance to explore the world. I thought that it was too expensive, and that I should be doing more important things such as working and going to school. Being brought up in that mindset, I was always quick to turn down the opportunity to go anywhere. I am so thankful that this was not the case for this trip. This July, I travelled with NSCC International to Austria for the International Summer Academy for Women in Engineering. I learned so much along the way and during my stay that it will be easy to put into words, but hard to explain the feeling of learning abroad. I met so many amazing people, both fellow students and faculty. Making connections in the early stages of my career is probably what I took in the most about the trip. Seeing where other people have come from to connect with engineering as a subject.
To keep it short I will discuss some highlights because I know I could ramble for hours. This engineering academy consisted of 24 females from all over the world. All studying to be in some sort of engineering program/degree. First, I will explain the educational part of my trip. Personally, I am a second-year metal fabrication student. I took most interest in general, industrial, and mechanical engineering. Some workshops that were in this spectrum were the building bridges workshop, the water turbine simulation, and the robotics workshop. We also visited Rosenbauer, which is a manufacturer for firetrucks across the globe. Here is where I met fellow fabricators and got to talk to them about their career. The building bridges workshop was where I could apply my knowledge the most because it was similar to what I learn in school. This was a group project that we took different pieces of metal and wood and built a simulation to what an actual bridge would look like. Once built, we put it under a 300 ton compressor, to see where the bridge design would fail first. The purpose of this is to see a model action of where engineers need to adjust the design, before actually building the bridge and watching it fail.
Second, I will explain the tourist attractions that we visited both as a group and in our free time. Austria is a beautiful country. The people there mostly speak German, but some can speak fluent English as well. A culture shock for all of us was the fact that there was no air conditioning in any of the buildings. Later we learned that it’s not really something that is used in Europe. I visited Salzburg, Vienna, Linz, and Wels. All places were within a train ride away. Vienna is the Capital of Upper Austria. Vienna is home of the Belvedere Gardens. These were gardens that had lots of statues, architecture, and impressive landscaping. Austria is also famous for schnitzel, which is basically breaded chicken. These are just a few new things that I discovered on this amazing journey!