Today was the big day of the final presentations. We arrived at the University at 8:30 and immediately presentations commenced. My group was third, which was good because it gave us an opportunity to get warmed up to the setting but we were also not last. I think our presentation went pretty well, as we made the time limit and covered all the information we wanted to get through. There was, however, one hiccup: I noticed that on one slide I wrote IBM as both Fujitsu's supplier and rival, but I meant to write that Intel was a supplier and IBM was a rival. Hopefully either no one noticed or they realized that it was a typo. Other than that, I believe my part of the presentation went pretty well, although I know I most likely talked very fast (I have a tendency to do this when I have to give presentations or speeches).
After presentations, we had lunch at the Mensa, which is the University of Augsburg's student dining hall. It is DELICIOUS, but I can't tell if it is because it is new to me, like during my first month of Market and Perch food back at Pitt. Either way, I am sad that my days of eating at Mensa are over.
We then returned to the classroom where we gave presentations to listen to a talk by Airbus Helicopters. This was a pretty interesting presentation, as I had heard of Airbus with regards to their commercial airline planes, but I had never heard of their helicopter segment. I was surprised they are actually leading the civil helicopter industry, and have around a ten percent market share in military helicopters. Furthermore, I found it interesting that most of their customers purchase less than five helicopters, demonstrating that their products are not bulk orders (like in the airline industry) and thus are more customized.
Because I felt it was very relevant, I asked the Airbus representative how he thought the advancement of drones would impact the helicopter business and if his firm was actually venturing into this area as well. He responded by saying that another division focused on defense and space is in fact making military drones. Additionally, he said that they have produced helicopters that are flown by humans but also have the capability to fly autonomously. This seemed to be very forward thinking to me and will allow the firm to adapt to changes in their environment.
After this presentation, I went for a run in the park once again, and then got ready for dinner, which I had to be at by 6:15. I was all ready, walked to the streetcar stop at 6:00, and saw that the line was not running. I checked another line down the block, and it was not working either! I ended up walking/jogging most of my way into town, and was a little bit late to dinner. However, I got a pork roast and spätzle (a pasta-type dish) for dinner that was outstanding, so it was all worth it. Then, a few of us went out to find an ice cream shop, and I'm pretty sure we found the only one open in the whole town. I don't know if I have mentioned it here, but in Germany all shops other than restaurants close between six and eight, so to find an ice cream shop open this late was a rarity. Thanks to this stroke of luck, I had a great capper to the night.
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