Marching Around: Days 2 and 3 from Berlin to Leipzig

Everything here is simply incredible. Germans seem to invest a huge amount of money into basic and applied research and development and it really shows. The conference was great and the minister gave a speech about sustainability and then we saw sone interviews with people who are doing various research in a variety of fields including environmental friendly cement and a geothermal collaboration with Indonesia. We also got up to receive our awards from the minister and had quite the photo opp (we pose for many photo opps every day, normally with the logo of whatever facility we are having a tour at...we tend to stand there for a minute or two while many flashes and cameras click all around us and then we are told to move along, all the while we are being filmed for documentation of the whole trip, even the semi-awkward posings for the photos). After a fantastic catered lunch of käse spetze (sp) and a whole variety of delectable hors-d'oeuvres, drinkable gazpacho, and creamy fruity desserts I was interviewed by a German magazine writer and another writer for Chemistry Science magazine (based in Boston I think). Then I was asked to participate on a panel for a moderated question and answer session on sustainability - the members were a few people from last year's competition, two other's from this years, and a couple members of research boards and a Siemens board member. I think I answered the questions in a comprehensive manner especially drawing from examples that I had encountered when working with Paty - everyone seemed very attentive and responsive to my examples citing that they were simple to understand but very metaphorically profound. They also said my resume makes it look like I'm in my 30's.

In Berlin I was able to take a short walk around the center from the Brandenberg tower/gate to the Holocaust memorial which is a silent piece of urban artwork with no writing. There are large stone slabs representing graves that rise steadily upwards as you walk in until you are surrounded by a labyrinth of very tall stones, it is very dark in the middle.
I also just walked around taking in the city. I came across a storefront that was more of a promotion for electric an green vehicles. Inside they had a sports car similar to the electric Tesla. This one, however, is Swiss made and even has propellers on the back so that it can drive around underwater. Although since it is a sports car you are obligated to take the plunge with the top down which necessitates a scuba suit. If you don't mind being a little wet while driving you could save the environment and drive an outrageously impractical car at the same time.

Today we were in Leipzig (picture attached) but we are sleeping in Zellerfeld (central Germany) tonight. We left Berlin early this morning and went to the research institute for biomass and the research institute for water treatment (two separate entities but located right next to each other). The site is very impressive and it was established as a research center in 1953 after having been a forced labor camp for the manufacturing of weapons during the war. At the biomass research center we saw their experimental labs and got to see some of their doctoral candidates in action collecting data and pursuing their experiments. I case you were wondering, biomass research consists of the reworking of crops or the use of agricultural waste to make energy in various forms from heat/combustion to a more tangible liquid fuel (ethanol). All of the labs are large with state of the art equipment (it helps that this biomass research facility receives 2.4 billion Euros per year). They also have an energy producing facility which is more applied research where they sell power to the grid yet keep the equipment as part of the research facility (experimenting with the combustion of various types of agricultural waste).

We heard four lectures at the center for water treatment, each one was very good. The standout topics were the use of a synthetic microbial method to water cleanup called zeolite. Another was facilitating soil cleanup by using fungal highways to facilitate bacterial movement across paths that are normally void of nutrients. We also were taken to see a lab that uses Junca grass to create a wastewater marshland and the absorptive properties of the plant to cleanse the wastewater and reuse it for agriculture with little no other treatment process besides this purely organic solution.

The people are also as diverse as they are interesting. I find it amazing to hear the stories of research and development from all these different people from around the world as well as their personal perceptions of Germany coming from such different backgrounds (most notably from the Chinese and the South Africans). The exchange of knowledge has been stimulating and overwhelming at the same time.
Oh, and this was just day 3.

Photos:
Courtyard at the center for water treatment, this was where we ate lunch.