Hello! I'm so sad we're close to the end of our TREE Trip but we still have a full day to look forward to tomorrow! We needed some extra sleep and got a later start to today than usual. We explored outside a huge palace (Nymphenburg Palace) this afternoon and went back to the Olympic stadium. There we were able to play some frisbee and then look out over Munich from a tower. We were about 200 meters above the ground. The group tried to catch a movie tonight but it was in German so instead we got gelato! Back at the hotel half of our group got stuck in the elevator for about an hour but they are out now!
Thanks for your continued support! I still can't believe we're even on this trip!
Monday, May 25, 2015
Munich Adventures
Hello all,
We have been in Munich since Friday evening and have been having a blast learning about German culture and history. I must admit, it has been quite nice not having to change cities every evening and we are starting to feel comfortable with our surroundings. We have practically mastered the tram and train system. Well mastered is probably the wrong word but we have handled it for sure.
For dinner on Friday we ate at the second largest beer garden in Munich which was the Augustine Beer Hall. Here we enjoyed some typical Bavarian food and drank a few brews. Well technically it was like one or two brews but they sell them by the liter so who knows really? None the less we had a great evening enjoying eachothers company and sharing stories about all of the tours and locations that we had travelled to over the past week and a half.
Saturday was the first free day that we had in Munich. I elected to go check out Allianz Stadium which is where the revered Bayern Munich play. They actually had their last soccer game of the season on Saturday and we were able to experience all the celebrations as they won their league title. This was pretty cool. We also travelled to Olympic Stadium which is where the 1972 Olympics were held. I was really interested in this because I recently watched a biography on a famous runner named Steve Prefontaine who competed in the 72 games. You may recall that during the 1972 games, there was a terrorist attack and ultimately members of the Israeli teams lost their lives. It was very interesting to learn about the history as well as see the area in person.
On Saturday we also visited the BMW Museum and learned about the history of the BMW company. It was very nice to see so many concept cars that I will never own. I really enjoyed the motorcycle portion as well as a display that they had on jet engines.
On Sunday we travelled to Dachau Concentration Camp right outside of Munich. For everyone on the trip, I believe this was our first first hand experience with the Holocaust. I cannot describe how intense and moving a walk within the compound is. I was constantly in thought at the camp and this was truly a sobering experience. It is one thing to watch movies and see pictures in text books, but when you actually stand in a gas chamber, or walk through a barracks, you are able to comprehend the horrendous events that occured during WWII. I will never forget what we saw at Dachau.
On a lighter note, we went to dinner at the Haufbrauhaus Sunday night. For those of you who have experienced it, you know. For those of you who haven't, you need to. I have never been in a place where 1300 people are drinking beer and yelling, screaming, and singing songs. Wait, nevermind, I went to UMaine. But this place was unreal. People were dressed up in traditional Bavarian clothes and singing German drinking songs and giving praise to the holy Bayern Munich! We had some great food and again enjoyed our group's company. What we didn't expect was to enjoy the company of everyone in the restaurant. People were extremely friendly and we all shared stories. What an incredible experience!
Thanks for following our adventure!
You stay classy readership,
Jon Lee
We have been in Munich since Friday evening and have been having a blast learning about German culture and history. I must admit, it has been quite nice not having to change cities every evening and we are starting to feel comfortable with our surroundings. We have practically mastered the tram and train system. Well mastered is probably the wrong word but we have handled it for sure.
For dinner on Friday we ate at the second largest beer garden in Munich which was the Augustine Beer Hall. Here we enjoyed some typical Bavarian food and drank a few brews. Well technically it was like one or two brews but they sell them by the liter so who knows really? None the less we had a great evening enjoying eachothers company and sharing stories about all of the tours and locations that we had travelled to over the past week and a half.
Saturday was the first free day that we had in Munich. I elected to go check out Allianz Stadium which is where the revered Bayern Munich play. They actually had their last soccer game of the season on Saturday and we were able to experience all the celebrations as they won their league title. This was pretty cool. We also travelled to Olympic Stadium which is where the 1972 Olympics were held. I was really interested in this because I recently watched a biography on a famous runner named Steve Prefontaine who competed in the 72 games. You may recall that during the 1972 games, there was a terrorist attack and ultimately members of the Israeli teams lost their lives. It was very interesting to learn about the history as well as see the area in person.
On Saturday we also visited the BMW Museum and learned about the history of the BMW company. It was very nice to see so many concept cars that I will never own. I really enjoyed the motorcycle portion as well as a display that they had on jet engines.
On Sunday we travelled to Dachau Concentration Camp right outside of Munich. For everyone on the trip, I believe this was our first first hand experience with the Holocaust. I cannot describe how intense and moving a walk within the compound is. I was constantly in thought at the camp and this was truly a sobering experience. It is one thing to watch movies and see pictures in text books, but when you actually stand in a gas chamber, or walk through a barracks, you are able to comprehend the horrendous events that occured during WWII. I will never forget what we saw at Dachau.
On a lighter note, we went to dinner at the Haufbrauhaus Sunday night. For those of you who have experienced it, you know. For those of you who haven't, you need to. I have never been in a place where 1300 people are drinking beer and yelling, screaming, and singing songs. Wait, nevermind, I went to UMaine. But this place was unreal. People were dressed up in traditional Bavarian clothes and singing German drinking songs and giving praise to the holy Bayern Munich! We had some great food and again enjoyed our group's company. What we didn't expect was to enjoy the company of everyone in the restaurant. People were extremely friendly and we all shared stories. What an incredible experience!
Thanks for following our adventure!
You stay classy readership,
Jon Lee
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Past few days
Hello everyone!
We haven't had wifi for the past couple of days, so now we are playing catchup with posts! We visited Schaeffer Rolls and MWN rolls on Tuesday which was incredible. It was really cool to see the machinery up close and personal. Wednesday we visited SKF and BASF. SKF specializes in lubrication systems. I never realized how intricate it can be until we heard the presentations. SKF will be sending us some information by mail later which will include the lubrication system in the pulp and paper industry and an explanation on their different bearings. I can't wait to read up and learn about this process. Later that day and today we toured BASF. Just to give you an idea of how big this place is, the number of employees they have at this facility is equivalent to the population of Bangor. They have three power facilities just to power the plant and we had to take a bus tour to see the entire plant. It was huge!
I've learned so much over the last few days. I didn't have a lot of knowledge regarding the mechanical aspect of the paper industry, so I'm glad we have had a wide variety of tours. We will continue to keep you updated throughout the trip!
Thanks for the continued support-
Katrina
We haven't had wifi for the past couple of days, so now we are playing catchup with posts! We visited Schaeffer Rolls and MWN rolls on Tuesday which was incredible. It was really cool to see the machinery up close and personal. Wednesday we visited SKF and BASF. SKF specializes in lubrication systems. I never realized how intricate it can be until we heard the presentations. SKF will be sending us some information by mail later which will include the lubrication system in the pulp and paper industry and an explanation on their different bearings. I can't wait to read up and learn about this process. Later that day and today we toured BASF. Just to give you an idea of how big this place is, the number of employees they have at this facility is equivalent to the population of Bangor. They have three power facilities just to power the plant and we had to take a bus tour to see the entire plant. It was huge!
I've learned so much over the last few days. I didn't have a lot of knowledge regarding the mechanical aspect of the paper industry, so I'm glad we have had a wide variety of tours. We will continue to keep you updated throughout the trip!
Thanks for the continued support-
Katrina
BASF town
Hello All,
Today and yesterday evening we had the chance to see BASF town which is really named Ludwigshafen. We started off yesterday afternoon where we got a brief overview tour the 13 km long facility in a tour bus. This included seeing everything from the steam crackers to the harbor in which many of the supplies are delivered. The size of this facility was unfathomable when explained with words. We got to see this in person when many of the 36,000 employees frantically drove through the many roads located through out the facility.
The evening we stayed in the country side in a hostel in the hills. It contained a castle like structure where we had a wonderful evening of bbqing our own dinner and playing soccer with a few of the young children who also were staying at the hostel.
Day 2 of BASF we got to tour the pilot coater that services many pulp and paper related companies and their research. I was amazed at the capabilities of this pilot coater. I had the capability to run at 10 times the speed of any coater I have seen in person. We were luckily enough to see it run for a brief minute before a web break turned into a small fire which was easily and expect idly put out by the very experienced crew. We had the chance to also hear from many of the U.S. immersion employees and how they have adjusted to being Germany. They had high praise for the program and have no regrets. The part I found the most astounding was that the Haber-Bosch process was discovered right at this facility. For anyone who doesn't know this is the process in which ammonia is synthesized from the nitrogen in the air and the hydrogen from water. This reaction revolutionized many industries and really progressed chemical engineering closer to where it is today. For me this may have been one of the most astounding tours we have been on yet.
Besten Wunsche,
Devin Weaver
Hostel in the Country Side
A nice competitive game of futbol
BASF Interactive table
Schäfer Rolls and MWN
Hallo Readers!
From Schäfer Rolls, we traveled to Niefern to see MWN Rolls. MWN services and produces rolls for the industry. While there, we saw rolls made by Schäfer, Voith, and Metso all being serviced. We were also able to see the impressive technology of a gundrill, used in order to create the suction rolls.
Both of these tours were unique experiences, and gave us a better perspective about how much technology and effort goes into rolls and their covers.
We're still having tons of fun, and appreciate all the support!
Alexi Deering
Kelsey Bolduc
Occupy German Train Stations
Strikes are good sometimes. If you are a pitcher in a baseball game or if you are bowling and trying to beat a group of college kids in Europe. Unfortunately, some strikes can leave you in a bind once in a while. We were informed on Tuesday that there would be a good chance that the railway would strike while we were abroad and they in fact did! So, for the past few days we have been lucky enough to receive transportation from SKF and BASF. So, special thanks to those guys.
We have chartered a bus to take us to Heidenheim tomorrow for our visit with Voith and eventually back to Munich! We knew something would go wrong during this trip and I'm proud to say that our group was able to handle it alright.
Be on the look out for some more posts and videos as we have wifi for the first time in a few days tonight!
Monday, May 18, 2015
Monday May 18 - Glatfelter and Xerium
Greetings readership!
Our group is currently wrapping up a busy Monday at the Hotel Fortuna in downtown Reutlingen, Germany. We've kicked off the week with two tours: Glatfelter in Gernsbach and Xerium in Reutlingen.
Our day started at 6AM with a bus ride from Stuttgart to Gernsbach. After arriving at the mill, we were given a brief presentation about Glatfelter and the products they make at the mill. The Gernsbach facility is known for producing extremely lightweight paper for tea bags and coffee filters, among other products. Their thinnest product has a basis weight of 8 GSM! The mill also has a metallizing machine, which applies a thin coat of evaporated aluminum to one side of the sheet - the type of paper that eventually becomes a beer bottle label.
The PPE was quite extensive, because it's a food grade facility.
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Our second tour of the day was Xerium's fabric facility in Reutlingen. We visited their Gloggnitz facility on Friday, where press and dryer felts are produced. Today we saw their wire production. It was interesting to compare the two. Friday's felts were bulkier and more focused on dewatering through absorption, whereas today was all about drainage. We saw many wires in the various stages of production - from the loom where they are first stitched together, to their heat treatment, and finally the joining process that seamlessly joins the two ends to create one endless fabric.
Finally, Xerium brought us to dinner at the very trendy Barfußer. This was a fine opportunity to sample some fine beverages brewed in house as well as traditional German cuisine.
Many more photos and videos of the day to follow! Our tour of Schaeffler Rolls begins in 7 hours. A huge thanks to Glatfelter and Xerium for hosting us, and to Xerium for sponsoring our hotel rooms.
Over and out,
Steve Goulet
Our group is currently wrapping up a busy Monday at the Hotel Fortuna in downtown Reutlingen, Germany. We've kicked off the week with two tours: Glatfelter in Gernsbach and Xerium in Reutlingen.
Our day started at 6AM with a bus ride from Stuttgart to Gernsbach. After arriving at the mill, we were given a brief presentation about Glatfelter and the products they make at the mill. The Gernsbach facility is known for producing extremely lightweight paper for tea bags and coffee filters, among other products. Their thinnest product has a basis weight of 8 GSM! The mill also has a metallizing machine, which applies a thin coat of evaporated aluminum to one side of the sheet - the type of paper that eventually becomes a beer bottle label.
The PPE was quite extensive, because it's a food grade facility.
Our second tour of the day was Xerium's fabric facility in Reutlingen. We visited their Gloggnitz facility on Friday, where press and dryer felts are produced. Today we saw their wire production. It was interesting to compare the two. Friday's felts were bulkier and more focused on dewatering through absorption, whereas today was all about drainage. We saw many wires in the various stages of production - from the loom where they are first stitched together, to their heat treatment, and finally the joining process that seamlessly joins the two ends to create one endless fabric.
Finally, Xerium brought us to dinner at the very trendy Barfußer. This was a fine opportunity to sample some fine beverages brewed in house as well as traditional German cuisine.
Many more photos and videos of the day to follow! Our tour of Schaeffler Rolls begins in 7 hours. A huge thanks to Glatfelter and Xerium for hosting us, and to Xerium for sponsoring our hotel rooms.
Over and out,
Steve Goulet
Sunday, May 17, 2015
PSA: Streching
Today we arrived in Stuutgart, Germany. It took over 6 hours and two trains to get here plus about a mile of walking through the city. We are sore and tired.
So with all of this traveling, I just wanted to ensure everyone we are taking much care into our personal well being. This exercise is an easy one even you can do at home!
Here is Katrina executing a perfect hip flexor stretch in the middle of downtown Stuutgart.
Until next time,
Cory Schweitzer
So with all of this traveling, I just wanted to ensure everyone we are taking much care into our personal well being. This exercise is an easy one even you can do at home!
Here is Katrina executing a perfect hip flexor stretch in the middle of downtown Stuutgart.
Until next time,
Cory Schweitzer
Saturday, May 16, 2015
DAY OFF IN VIENNA
Hello Everyone!!
This morning we woke up and traveled to Vienna via train. We were able to choose our own adventure in Vienna! Kelsey B. and I used the public transit system to travel to Schonbrunn Palace. It was gorgeous! We took in all the sights, and even found our way through a labyrinth. There were multiple fountains and a huge castle. After our exploration we ended the day with some ice cream on the palace hill overlooking the city. We just got checked into our hotel room, and we're going to dinner with the group soon. See our pictures below.
Since we haven't had the best internet connections, here are some pictures from the past few days
Panoramic view from the clock tower in Graz
A group of us with the clock tower in the background
Thanks for following, we'll keep you updated.
Alexi Deering
Friday, May 15, 2015
Xerium, Graz and The Alps
Hey Everyone!
Today we toured Xerium in Semmering, Austria. They produce paper machine clothing, press felts and roll covers. We got to see their many textile machines and got a full presentation on the things they are doing / how they create these rolls. I was surprised to find out that they have 450 patents and are a supplying the felts to the two new Tissue Machines going in at St. Croix Tissue in Baileyville.
Yesterday in Graz, Austria we got to experience the culture of the city in semi-full swing. Since there was a national holiday, the city was a lot quieter than normal and proved difficult in finding places to eat. Luckily the Chinese restaurant was open and the buffet wasn't half bad. We had traditional Austrian cuisine and beer at a local restaurant for dinner, getting meals like the Wiener Schnitzel.
The best part of the trip, in my opinion, has been the traveling. The Alps in Eastern Austria are steep, heavily wooded mountains that rise and fall in all directions. There are tunnels that go straight through the mountains because it would be nearly impossible to go over them. Also speaking German, or attempting to, has been a neat experience too. Most people speak fluent english but its fun to try and say simple things like Danke (thank you) or Auf Wietesen (Goodbye), and trying to pronounce what you're ordering for food.
The past three days have felt like a week and a half. This trip has already been more than I could've asked for and I'm very excited for whats in store for the rest of it.
- Cory Schweitzer
Today we toured Xerium in Semmering, Austria. They produce paper machine clothing, press felts and roll covers. We got to see their many textile machines and got a full presentation on the things they are doing / how they create these rolls. I was surprised to find out that they have 450 patents and are a supplying the felts to the two new Tissue Machines going in at St. Croix Tissue in Baileyville.
Yesterday in Graz, Austria we got to experience the culture of the city in semi-full swing. Since there was a national holiday, the city was a lot quieter than normal and proved difficult in finding places to eat. Luckily the Chinese restaurant was open and the buffet wasn't half bad. We had traditional Austrian cuisine and beer at a local restaurant for dinner, getting meals like the Wiener Schnitzel.
The best part of the trip, in my opinion, has been the traveling. The Alps in Eastern Austria are steep, heavily wooded mountains that rise and fall in all directions. There are tunnels that go straight through the mountains because it would be nearly impossible to go over them. Also speaking German, or attempting to, has been a neat experience too. Most people speak fluent english but its fun to try and say simple things like Danke (thank you) or Auf Wietesen (Goodbye), and trying to pronounce what you're ordering for food.
The past three days have felt like a week and a half. This trip has already been more than I could've asked for and I'm very excited for whats in store for the rest of it.
- Cory Schweitzer
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Video From Today
Aaron Ortiz has been able to capture some of today's events on a Go-Pro! Here is some of the footage!
One trip to Turkey later...
Greetings readership!
We TREE-trippers landed in Munich at approximately 10PM local time. By the time we got to the hotel, many of us had been traveling for 30 hours or more, including a quick stop in Istanbul.
Agenda for tonight:
- Sample some famed German beers
- Try to get some much needed rest before we head to Austria in the morning
Tomorrow marks the start of our tours. In the morning we'll be taking a bus to Graz, Austria where we'll be touring an Andritz manufacturing facility. Afterward we'll visit the University of Graz and visit students and professors in their pulp and paper program. We're all very excited just to be here, and even more excited to start our tours. We'll be traveling through the Alps tomorrow, which promises to be quite a sight.
Here are some images from our trek across the Atlantic:
We TREE-trippers landed in Munich at approximately 10PM local time. By the time we got to the hotel, many of us had been traveling for 30 hours or more, including a quick stop in Istanbul.
Agenda for tonight:
- Sample some famed German beers
- Try to get some much needed rest before we head to Austria in the morning
Tomorrow marks the start of our tours. In the morning we'll be taking a bus to Graz, Austria where we'll be touring an Andritz manufacturing facility. Afterward we'll visit the University of Graz and visit students and professors in their pulp and paper program. We're all very excited just to be here, and even more excited to start our tours. We'll be traveling through the Alps tomorrow, which promises to be quite a sight.
Here are some images from our trek across the Atlantic:
Stay tuned readers! More tales, photos, and videos to follow.
Steve
We have arrived!
Guten Tag!
After an 8 hour flight, a 3 hour layover in Turkey, and finally a 2.5 hour flight, we have arrived in Munich! We just got to our hotel and we are exhausted, as demonstrated by Rachel below (on our shuttle bus from the airport to the hotel). It's been a long day, and I hope we can get use to the time change. It's already 1:00am here in Germany (7:00 Maine time) and I'm not that tired. We have to be up and ready though by 7:00am tomorrow to go on a 5 hour bus ride for our first tour in Graz though! I'm really excited to see what Andritz has to offer. Afterwards we are going to be visiting the University of Graz to meet up with some students there. I'm really excited, and will keep you guys updated!
Thanks for all of your support-
Katrina
After an 8 hour flight, a 3 hour layover in Turkey, and finally a 2.5 hour flight, we have arrived in Munich! We just got to our hotel and we are exhausted, as demonstrated by Rachel below (on our shuttle bus from the airport to the hotel). It's been a long day, and I hope we can get use to the time change. It's already 1:00am here in Germany (7:00 Maine time) and I'm not that tired. We have to be up and ready though by 7:00am tomorrow to go on a 5 hour bus ride for our first tour in Graz though! I'm really excited to see what Andritz has to offer. Afterwards we are going to be visiting the University of Graz to meet up with some students there. I'm really excited, and will keep you guys updated!
Thanks for all of your support-
Katrina
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
A Minute with Matt
Hello!
Currently on a bus from Portland to Boston and watching Night at the Museum 2 on the bus tv, a terrible movie but nothing else to do on the bus. Hopefully nothing was forgotten back home because there is no going back for it now. I am looking forward to the trip and everything has gone smoothly so far. Only about 20 more hours until we arrive in Germany, I will keep fellow bloggers updated along the way.
this is Matt Haws over and out
Monday, May 11, 2015
'Twas the night before departure....
As we are scheduled to fly out of Logan Airport in Boston tomorrow evening, I thought it would be a good idea to start packing. I'm sure that most of our trip attendees have realized the same thing. We are scheduled to fly out of Logan at 11:00PM and arrive in Munich at 9:00PM tomorrow evening with a layover in Istanbul, Turkey. We'll be sure to let you know how that goes.
Below you can see the route that we will be taking while we are in Germany and Austria. We will begin by travelling into Austria and then back to Germany after this weekend. We have been fortunate enough to have incredible support from all of our host companies and our itinerary will certainly provide our group with a once in a lifetime opportunity. Check out our blog over the next couple weeks to stay up to date with our travel, read about what we've been doing, and view some pictures! If you guys have any questions for us please shoot us an email and we will respond to them on the blog! Thanks to everyone who has made this possible!!!
Below you can see the route that we will be taking while we are in Germany and Austria. We will begin by travelling into Austria and then back to Germany after this weekend. We have been fortunate enough to have incredible support from all of our host companies and our itinerary will certainly provide our group with a once in a lifetime opportunity. Check out our blog over the next couple weeks to stay up to date with our travel, read about what we've been doing, and view some pictures! If you guys have any questions for us please shoot us an email and we will respond to them on the blog! Thanks to everyone who has made this possible!!!
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