Tonight concluded six exciting weeks studying in Europe. Our group of ten BS/MBA students have experienced numerous cultures, met with professors from a variety of universities, visited seven major world cities, and built a foundational knowledge of doing business in Europe. As we make our way home to the United States we do so with a more global business and engineering perspective.

We would like to thank Dr. Maloney and Kim Sayre for their efforts in directing, organizing, and making the BS/MBA program a success. A special thanks goes to the generous people who saw a need for engineers trained in business and who saw fit to use their resources to make this program a reality. We also want to thank our families, friends, and significant others for being willing to part with us so that we could further our education and broaden our horizons.

Finally, I would like to thank you, the readers, for consistently visiting our blog and for those who left comments along the way. My personal hope is that you enjoyed following our journey this summer. Have a wonderful year and I invite you back next summer for another great blog!

Today was our final company visit. To finish things off we toured the Rolls-Royce jet-engine facility in Derby. Yes you read that correctly. Rolls-Royce does more than make gold-plated automobiles. They are one of the world’s foremost manufacturers of turbine engines. At the Derby facility we specifically toured the civil jet-engine final assembly line. They [...]

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Today was a change of pace for the group. Instead of the lion’s share of our time being spent in lecture we spent the day touring two unique London sights. This morning we visited Wembley Stadium. It was completed in 2007 replacing the original Wembley Stadium constructed in 1923. With it’s 90,000 seats it ranks [...]

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Our final Tuesday has come and gone. In the morning we met for a guest lecture by Sam Gills of the Environmental Investment Organization (EIO). Gills serves as the Operational Director for this not-for-profit. The EIO has developed an investment index (not unlike the S&P 500) which ranks companies based on environmental practices. Their beta [...]

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We began our final week with an iconic British establishment, the BBC. The tour provided a behind-the-scenes view of one of the world’s most well known news organizations. Our visit took place at the BBC’s television headquarters aptly named the Television Center. We were interested to learn the BBC is ultimately accountable to the British [...]

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We made our move to the final destination of our studies in Europe. After arriving early afternoon on Saturday we were given the balance of the weekend to enjoy the many sights of London. Knowing a full week of lectures and company visits awaits us we made the most of our weekend. Saturday afternoon several [...]

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Our time in Manchester is nearing the end. This afternoon we sat for the final exam and many have completed their group case studies. All that remains on the agenda for this week is the end of course dinner Friday evening. At that point we will say goodbye to the non-Kentucky students as we transition [...]

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Another full day of paper writing and studying has come to an end here in Manchester. Tomorrow afternoon (Thursday) we take our final exam. On Friday our group case study paper is due. Despite having plenty to keep us busy we can’t help but notice the local headlines concerning the state of EU member countries. [...]

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Today (Tuesday) was another exciting day of paper writing and group meetings. If you didn’t read the first sentence with at least a hint of sarcasm I will wait while you give it another try. On a more serious note it’s obvious these types of activities are vital to the comprehension and application of our [...]

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Manchester is just as we left it. To quote the SkyNews weatherman today was “cool and showery”. This is quite a transition from 80 F and sunny in Paris, Barcelona, and Grenoble. So, it’s perfect weather for our task at hand. If you read yesterday’s post you already know the plans for this week. We [...]

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