VT College of Science Quarterly August 2014 Vol. 2 No. 1 | Page 12

Ce n tr al Eu r o p e
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in Ludwigshafen, Germany, highlighted the processes of how novel research can
lead to product innovation and development.
After a week in Mainz, we boarded a train for Paris, France. While we did some
sight-seeing and visited some museums in Paris, our primary focus was learning about novel polymer research at ESPCI ParisTech and attending a reception
with French graduate students as part of The Student Chapter of Nanosciences
in Ile-de-France. The scientific community was very warm and welcoming, and
we learned much on the differences between European and American academic
institutions.
On Jan. 14, we took another train to Lucerne, Switzerland to visit Nolax, a
company that specializes in developing adhesive start-up businesses. Their chief
executive, Stefan Leuman, discussed how their small adhesive company evolved
around technology and research to formulate their current niche market in developing small start-up businesses. As many of the students are looking at using
nanotechnology as a catalyst to start their own entrepreneurial projects in the
future, this presentation personally related to many of us.
Shortly after our return to Paris, we came back to the U.S. on Jan. 17.
I was astonished by how much I learned outside of the classroom over the study
abroad trip. Of course we all had lectures about polymers and how they relate to
nanotechnology, but most of my learning came from reflections resulting from the
excursions we took outside the classroom. An example was observing how the
grand cathedrals and churches greatly influence European culture.
Themes such as charity and community were immensely prevalent across these
sites, and they illustrated the importance of how science and technology need to
contribute to the society (like these institutions) to be looked upon favorably in
the public eye.
It was a tremendous opportunity to learn these reflections were not unique to
one instance during the study abroad experience. We were consistently immersed
into new cultural mindsets that demonstrated how regional mentality could help
shape the science of our future.

While in Paris, students get
an opportunity to take in the
local sites with help from a
tour guide.

College of Science Quarterly

Ludwik Leibler, professor at ESPCI, Ecole Su
French host for the tour, speaks to students
ing with faculty and students.