Ever wonder why the Leaning Tower of Pisa leans but does not fall? or, how the Colosseum was built without modern-day tools and technology?  The University of St. Thomas is providing a few of us the opportunity to travel abroad in Italy this coming January to find out!  We will spend just under a month traveling around Italy, visiting a total of ten different cities. We will have the opportunity to see some of the most famous Roman structures and learn about the engineering behind them all.

Twenty-eight engineering students, including myself, will be accompanied by Dr. Deborah Besser, Professor John Walker, and Professor Barbara Zell during our exciting adventure abroad. The group of us just recently met up for a meeting on November 4th to discuss the course, homework, and travel safety. But, don’t worry we had enough time to get to know each other through a few icebreakers and a dinner at Buca’s.

The countdown is on! Only a little over a month before we start a journey filled with architecture, engineering, and spaghetti!

– Jordan