Author: Ethan Graef | Major: Mechanical Engineering and German | Semester: Summer 2024
Koln Christmas Market
For the Fall of 2023 and part of the Spring of 2024, I studied abroad at TU Darmstadt in Darmstadt, Germany as part of the International Engineering Program under the College of Engineering. As a Mechanical Engineering and German major, TU Darmstadt was appealing for several reasons. First,
they’re a German university with a direct exchange program with the University of Arkansas. Also, TU Darmstadt is a 20-minute train ride from Frankfurt, so it’s well-connected to the rest of Germany and
Europe. Also, most importantly, Darmstadt, Germany, is home to ESOC, the European Space Agency (ESA) mission control, so they have a wide array of aerospace/space courses classes taught by professors from ESA and DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt).
While at TU Darmstadt, I took several aerospace courses, including Advanced Fluid Dynamics, Fundamentals of Space Systems, and Selected Topics of Space Propulsion. Through my Fundamentals of Space Systems course, I had the unique opportunity to tour ESOC with my classmates. We saw the control room and some sister satellites that ESA had developed, such as Rosetta. In my Selected Topics of Space Propulsion course, each propulsion subject was taught by a guest speaker from DLR. I learned about propulsion topics such as additive manufacturing in propulsion, combustion instabilities, rotating detonating engines, and the Arianne space program from leading German space engineering specialists. I enjoyed my German courses, but the grading structure drastically differed from the U.S. school system. All my classes were graded by one comprehensive final exam, and most of my final exams were 20 – 30-minute oral exams. If you want to study abroad in Germany, prepare to dedicate plenty of time to your courses. The day-to-day life in Germany was a refreshing change of pace. I didn’t have a car, but there was no reason to have one. There were tram and bus systems throughout Darmstadt where, during peak hours, every 5 minutes, there was a tram or bus I could take to downtown for groceries, bars, and restaurants, and since I was a student, the regional public transit was free. The Christmas markets were also beautiful. Every major city in Germany hosts a traditional Christmas market with fantastic food, handmade Christmas ornaments, and Glühwein, a hot, spiced red wine that’s amazing when it’s nippy outside. My favorite Christmas market I visited had to be one in Kufstein, Austria, just south of München. It was in the Tyrol / Bavarian fortress that towers over the city, and all the vendors lined the corridors of the fortress wall. My favorite part of my study abroad adventure was the places I visited. I joined the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) in Darmstadt, and with ESN, I traveled with other international students to Prague, Czech Republic, and Stuttgart, Germany. I also traveled through Germany with friends and solo to Berlin, Köln, München, Frankfurt, and Heidelberg. My girlfriend also flew to Europe to visit, and we took a two-week trip on the Eurail system through Luzerne, Switzerland, Venice, Italy, Rome, Italy, and Paris, France. I also had the opportunity to visit one of my international friends from the University of Arkansas in Lisbon, Portugal, with his family. Germany is a beautiful country, and I can’t wait to visit again. If you’re interested in studying abroad in Germany, I can’t recommend it enough. Some advice is to take every opportunity to travel with other international students or solo. Also, tap into your local ESN because they frequently have cheap trips you can take with other international students. Thank you to the Honors College for the support and to anyone who is about to embark on their German study abroad journey: schöne Reise und viel Erfolg!