COE students Zachary Wood, Kevin Gayler, and Jason McDonald participated in the trip to Madrid, Spain, from May 11-18, 2013, at the end of the spring semester. The Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE) served as the provider for the trip.

At least two CIEE staff members were available to the UT group around the clock during the stay in Madrid. The students each had home-stay accommodations, where two meals per day were provided. CIEE does extensive screening in the selection of the native Spanish hosts, who are generally people in their thirties or forties.

The group began its visit with a welcome dinner with CIEE staff and hosts at a restaurant serving traditional Spanish cuisine. The next day began with a travel orientation that emphasized safety, and included a walking tour of Madrid.

On the Monday of the visit, the UT group visited the Universidad Carlos III Madrid in Leganes. A PhD student there lectured on structures and her own research.

COE students returned to the campus on the following Wednesday to tour the labs and hear another lecture on materials. Later, the group went with two of the CIEE staff members on a three-hour bike ride. The ride included a visit to one of the largest parks in Europe, which is constructed over the top of a highway. Afterward, they attended a lecture on alternative energy sources, given by a Spanish engineer/entrepreneur.

The next day’s excursion was to the quaint town of Segovia. The COE group viewed aqueducts, shown at right,constructed in the first century by the Romans, as well as the Castle of Queen Isabella’s Court, erected in the twelfth century.

On the way to Segovia, the group visited the Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aerospacial (INTA), a contingent of NASA. Its budget of more than €150 million comes from the Spanish Ministry of Defense and from its own projects with the industry. INTA has around 1,200 employees, 80% of them dedicated to research and development activities.

One of the secure areas visited was a hanger-like structure housing scientists and engineers who design and build unmanned craft used in drone strikes. Several of these were on display.

At the site’s astrobiology facility, a scientist showed the group a lab replicating rivers believed to have once been present on Mars. INTA had one-third scale models of the Mars Rover and other craft used in space exploration.

Students were free to go out on their own on the Friday during their stay, and the visit ended with an Andalusia night and dinner featuring Flamenco dancers. The trip was an excellent exposure to Spanish culture with a strong emphasis on engineering in another country.