Mercedes Benz

The group had the great privilege of touring the Mercedes Benz production facility here in Bremmen. It was a really cool experience for the engineering students to see the 95% automated line producing many different models and colors of luxury vehicles. We started the tour with a brief presentation informing us that this plant produced just under 2000 cars a day for over 20 different countries. We then made our way to the line and saw the body of the car being assembled with mostly robotic welding arms, but also industrial glue and rivets made by similar robotic arm. The cycle time was just over a minute and we could see several models of cars come together in just a matter of minutes. After the body is formed, assembled, and painted, all completely automated with no human interference, all of the car components were inserted robotically and the chasse was monted by hand with the help of a hand-held power drill. From the limited glance we received it seemed as though the whole chasse was monted by hand with just two bolts in each of the driver and passenger sides. The rest of the assembly we saw was all done by machine assisted manual labor where each and every car was a different model and color and the workers assembled the rest of the unique pieces to that car by hand. It was a great experience for mechanical engineers looking to get a taste of process control engineering like myself. As we were leaving we got to see the test track in use for one of the new cars as well as a concept car in the main lobby. Overall it was an incredible experience and many members of the group and I were gitty with excitement and infused with renewed commitment for learning to someday be able to so something like this with our degree.

First night in Paris

Bonjour from Paris. After rolling in yesterday from the palace of Versi the group was all eager to get a taste of life in Paris. The first place we visited was the basilica of Sacre-Coeur. This gorgeous basilica is dedicated as a house of prayer and the silence of the confessional time was an interesting contrast from my preconceived ideals of the hustle and bustle of the busy city and from the trip in general. It was very refreshing to begin our time in Paris with a quiet meditative scene. Just as we were exiting the basilica the Eiffel tower in the back ground began to sparkle. A group of students also visited the bluff just up the hill from the basilica. This area is known as the center for art and some local sketch artists were on the street selling there ware’s along with some shops selling other peices of art. It was a very beautiful area but the professors said it would have been much more active during the tourist season in spring.

European Interim 2019 Day 1

Schiphol Airport.

The third largest airport in Europe was interestingly quiet as the group arrived with glazed over eyes from the 7.5 hour flight. We arrived at a local time of 5:45 AM safely and with all luggage in hand, still a bit sluggish, but excited for the first taste of European culture. Schiphol airport features almost all English signage which was a great help to navigate through the terminals and baggage claim.

Dutch Dikes

As the group approached the Netherlands from the North Sea it was dark and many were attempting to catch some zzzz’s. The Air line provided a satellite image of the landscapes we were flying over. Amazingly, the famous dikes holding back the water were visible from the satellite view of the Netherlands. On the very pleasant bus ride from Calvin to Detroit the group was informed of the cultural and historical significance of the dikes. If not for these incredible land masses is is estimated that 2/3 of the Netherlands would be under water. The dikes seen from the plane a categorized as sea or ocean dikes and the group (especially the civil engineers) can not wait to catch an up close glimpse of the some of the second category river dikes in the coming days in Deutschland. A treasured pastime in relation to the dikes is dike jumping. (Check out the link below)