Standing on a bridge in Florence with Ponte Vecchio in the background

Author: Steven Vong | Major: Chemical Engineering | Semester: May Intersession 2023

I chose this program to help teach me the skills I need to budget engineering projects and for personal budgeting. Learning engineering economics in a different country allows us to learn how international businesses split their cost and benefits and apply those teachings back here in the states. During my time abroad we visited many different companies learning about their million-dollar projects and how they plan and split up the costs of it. We learned about the value of money and its volatility. The class was a good mix between classroom learning and real-world application visiting different companies. Our instructor Dr. Pohl was an amazing instructor and gave helpful inputs both in the classroom and during our visits to different companies. This class differs extremely from those at the U of A because you get real-world application of what you learn in class by visiting companies and have an international application of the coursework. One company we visited specialized in tunnel boring. Boring tunnels is a multi-million-dollar business not only in Italy but internationally too. Because of Italy’s mountainous topography, it allowed them to become highly specialized in boring tunnels to expand their transportation infrastructure. Other countries such as Australia and Vietnam then call them for their expertise in helping to develop their own tunnel transportation infrastructure. Being a company that works internationally, they talked about the complicated economics of their projects and how they can fund these million-dollar projects. Learning about their budgeting allowed me to easily understand and apply the things we learned in class to the real-world applications. We also visited a company that specialized in travertine extraction. Travertine is a stone material that is used in buildings all around Italy. It was used to make the famous colosseum and is shipped to different countries such as China and Iran for building material. We traveled an hour outside of Rome to a quarry and we got to see first-hand the travertine and the processes all the way from mining to process to shipping. We learned about the economics behind their process and how they only start the mining process when an order is made to save on cost. Learning the economics of different international companies helped me understand that there is not a perfect and specific way to budget, it all depends on the company and multiple other factors.

The people and the culture there was something I had never experienced before. It was very different from the States but in a good way. The food was fresh, amazing, and very healthy. It did not make me feel sluggish like back in the States even though it was all carbs. The people are very welcoming and friendly once you get to know and talk to them. Rome was so beautiful with its ancient buildings and incredible architecture. We took a lot of trips outside of Rome too. My favorite was our trip to the Amalfi Coast for a weekend. We took the Circumvesuviana, which is a local train that runs from Naples to Sorrento. It was a run-down train that stopped a lot and was always delayed. We were late to a lot of things because if it, but it had amazing views which made it worth it. We stopped in Pompei for the first night and took a tour of the ruins of Pompeii. The city was beautiful and bigger than I thought. The next day we woke up early to go on a boat tour in Sorrento which took us all the way to the island of Capri. In Capri I had the best seafood pasta that I had ever had in my life. We also took a ski lift to the top of Anacapri, which is part of Capri. The views at the top were incredible. You could see the whole island and the water around it was the bluest water I had ever seen. It was filled with hundreds of Yachts and boats all parked in the water.

I highly recommend this program to every engineering student. It is a very educational class and teaches you engineering economic skills. You could then apply it in the industry and in your personal life when budgeting or saving up money. One thing I wish I knew before hand was how short the time abroad feels. There were so many things to do and everyday was packed to the minute. I enjoyed every minute of it, but it flew by without me noticing. I loved my time abroad and I assure you that if you take this program you are guaranteed to have a phenomenal time and learn a lot too. However, the small comforts of living in the US such as ice water, a/c in every building, and familiar faces makes me miss being back home. The first thing I am going to do when I get back into the US is enjoy a six-finger basket from canes and a sweet tea with extra ice.