TAP 2009 Stories

On this website we will post stories from our current TAP 2009 participants while there are in Germany. We would like to share their experiences at work or in their everyday life to offer insights to their German life. With a greeting from a TAP Alumnus Mehrdad Hosni we want to introduce our new page:

Designing Green Buildings - Zach Kimberling

My positive work experience for Schaller Architekten BDA RIBA in Stuttgart has made me seriously consider obtaining my Masters degree from a German University. The tuition for universities in Germany are not as high as in the US, and furthermore, things which are considered avant-garde or innovative in the US are commonplace in Europe.

The fundamental attitude towards building is completely different. In the US, the two major drivers of design are cost and speed, whereas architects in Germany are more concerned about performance and durability. We are currently working on designing an addition to a school in Neu-Ulm to Passivhaus standards. Although the school will contain advanced computer systems, much of what makes the building passive are actually pretty simple design elements. The walls contain continuous 30 cm thick insulation (the average house will have 3.5 inches of non-continuous insulation), the windows are triple glazed (usually single-glazed in the US), and the blinds are located on the outside (on the inside in the US). Furthermore, doing a quality remodelling job of an older building is normal, whereas in the US, the standard practice is to tear down and rebuild. 

Stuttgart has plenty of other things going for it as well: words ending with -le, Maultaschen, Kässpätzle, vineyards within the middle of the city, die Stäffle, not to mention Mercedes and Porsche. (Zach Kimberling, TAP 2009)

Whitney Zahn on national German television

My internship at SAINT-GOBAIN Sekurit Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG is challenging. In some respects it is difficult-right now. I'm working on a project that requires input and help from different departments and it is a challenge to obtain the required information. I've also been doing many translations for press releases and recently finished two major articles on an experiment that was filmed with Saint-Gobain glass. 

I was actually there during the filming and appear in a short segment!  It's only three seconds long, but you can see it at www.daserste.de/plusminus.  The specific program, "Bessere Wärme-Isolierung im Auto spart Energie" is available in the Mediathek. All in all, I am very content with my internship. The work is interesting and the people are very welcoming. (Whitney Zahn, TAP 2009)

Renewables focus at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V. - Kiley Kost

My internship at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V. is going great. Part of my duties as an intern is to attend any events in Berlin that deal with climate, energy, renewables, sustainability, etc. I've already been to so many events and they just keep coming. Not only has this aspect improved my knowledge and vocabulary in the field, but it has opened up another door to German business culture and networking. I've already meet some very interesting people and made some good connections. 

Berlin life is wonderful too of course. I can't believe I've been here for one month already. (Kiley Kost, 2009)

Musikalisch in Bayern – Matthew Wygal

Mir gefaellt Bayern sehr gut. Es ist doch wirklich schön, und ebenso schön, einmal im Leben auf dem Land zu wohnen.

Mein Praktikum bei GLOR läuft auch gut. Mir werden verschiedene Aufgaben zugeteilt. Ich war auch schon bei ein paar Terminen mit Künstlern! Ich habe unter anderem Stephan Sulke, Tony Henry und Mars kennengelernt, und war während der ganzen Terminen mit dabei. Das war wirklich wunderbar.

Die Umgebung ist ohne Zweifel wunderschön. Jeden Tag fahre ich mit dem Rad zu meinem Arbeitsplatz, und wenn es einmal sonnig ist, dann kann ich gut die Alpen im Hintergrund sehen. Wahnsinn! Normalerweise fahre ich am Wochenende mit der S-Bahn nach München. Das ist auch super, dass ich so nah an München wohne und es oft besuchen kann. Ich habe mir auch mit meinen Eltern Berlin intensiver angeschaut. Das Praktikum in solch einer Umgebung ist wirklich eine sehr spannende Erfahrung, die ich sehr genieße. (Matthew Wygal, TAP 2009)

The New Airbus A400M: An Exciting Placement - Diogo Alves

I am working at Airbus in Bremen in the Design Quality department of the A400M, a new Military Transporter that can carry just about anything (trucks, helicopters, tanks, 120 soldiers) and land just about anywhere (desert, ice, grassy field). Essentially what my department does is it receives queries from the manufacturers on problems with the design during the manufacturing process, and the department responds with a new engineering design, after testing it and making sure it does not impact other components of the plane. My internship project involves organizing the communication in this process and creating a single interface to integrate multiple databases to make the process more efficient and more accountable.

The Airbus site in Bremen is huge. It is located at the Bremen airport and more than 3100 people work here. Aside from the A400M, the wing components of all other Airbus aircraft are assembled here, and flown in the Beluga to the final assembly sites in Toulouse, Seville, and Hamburg. I got to see a new engine being tested in the wind tunnel, as well as the assembly line for the A400M, where I got to actually walk into the partially built structure. So far only one prototype of the A400M has been built, and 4 more are in the works. The first flight should be at the end of this year. My office is very international, with colleagues from Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and Russia. We all speak German to each other, and I’ve heard German in many funny accents. Airbus is a German and French company, so the common language for most documents is English. Every other week my department has a video conference with Toulouse, and though it is conducted in English, not a single person in the room is a native speaker of English!

Bremen is a great city to be in. I’m living with two Germans who study engineering at Uni Bremen, and we are right in the middle of the city in an area with a lot of bars, restaurants, supermarkets, and döner places, and the tram stop is literally at my door. There's a beautiful river called the Weser that divides the old and new town, and there's a relaxing strip of beer gardens and cafes along it, with plenty of grassy areas to chill and take in the sun. (Diogo Alves, TAP 2009)