Hello Everyone! My name is Jillian and I am a junior mechanical engineering major. I will be doing the blog today – our last full day before we leave tomorrow!

              Just a quick reflection before I go into what we did today, which hold onto your socks folks cause it is pretty fantastic. I just wanted to extend a thank you to everyone who has helped made this trip possible. I could not have asked for a better group to be with this past month. Also shout out to Claudio for everything he has done for us as well during this trip! Now onto what we did today! We first went to the School of Design of the Politecnico University.

Here we were able to tour different labs focused on certain subjects such as photography, fashion, and product design. In each lab we toured, we saw students at work and learned a little bit about what they were working on. For the students it is currently finals week, so that meant crunch time. In the first lab we saw, the photography lab, there was a tutor there to help students get the best lightening and angle for their shot. Tutors were in every lab to help the students. The second lab, fashion lab, we heard a little bit about sometimes companies will come to these students with new fabric and task them to see what this new fabric or thread could be used for. For the third lab, product design, we saw how they make prototypes and different machines used to create their products such as 3D printers and a CNC machine.

              Once we completed the tour, we were able to hear about the creation and the reuse strategy for the EXPO that was hosted in Italy in 2015. For the creation of the EXPO, it took a lot of time, research, communication, and creative thinking to involve all cultures of all the countries that attended (54). For example, the EXPO team created a ‘dust storm’ and ‘rock’ pavilions. For the dust storm, they took different length cylinders and placed them all over the ceiling. For the rock shaped pavilions, they designed each pavilion to have different angles that gave it the appearance of rocks. The same kind of communication and research was needed for the apartments that would house all the crew for the next few months. Interesting note, everything that was created for EXPO – besides one building – was made with the idea that it would be taken down and reused. Once the EXPO was over, it was now time to think of what to do with this space. One of the main goals now is that the wanted to create a sustainable area that would last for a long time. We heard about the details of the new school that will be built there. The research they did for the school such having the students write in diaries of what they would want in the new school, the teachers attending workshops, or giving faculty cards with all the departments on them and using those cards to create an outline of where everything should go, was extensive but worth it. Seeing how engineering and design work together to create such a great place was mind blowing!

              Next, we were able to take a quick break before our next school to explore the city. A few of us went shopping – because in Milan you just must – and did a quick photo shoot – again you just got to do it. 😊

              The last stop of the day was the tour of IED, the European School of Design. We were able to see their labs such as photography, sound booth, and design (which had 3D printing as well). We also went into a classroom where the students were working on a one-day project of creating a few designs to make millennials more interactive. It was interesting to compare this school from the one we saw earlier. Both schools were amazing, and it was a great way to end the trip!

Arrivedeci!