Aachen for the day

Today we went to a cute town in far west Germany, Aachen. It's known mostly for its gorgeous cathedral and a special gingerbread called printen (the soft kind is delicious and reminds me of Christmas). For the first half of the day we visited the Helmholtz institute close to the university hospital. They're doing some awesome research there! Sophisticated heart valves, oxygenators for neonates, blood perfusion research and a total artificial heart. Very cool stuff. Graduate engineering students direct undergrads for the current research project. The most interesting part of the visit was learning that close to none of the students doing research had a medical background. They all had something in mechanical or materials engineering and even mathematics. I guess it makes sense because engineers are good at the whole problem solving thing but how can they make a physiological device without knowing the physiology? That's where this cooperation with the university hospital right next door comes in. Doctors and med students answer any questions the engineers may have and in turn both sides learn something. Since most of us are some type of bioengineers we've got that on our side! We know both, how to problem solve with mathematics and how the body works. I think I'm in the right place with my schooling :)
After our visit we toured the town on our own and then met up to visit the cathedral. The cathedral in Aachen is probably my most favorite I've ever seen. The entire ceiling is covered with gold and colored mosaic tiles. To say it's impressive is an understatement. We saw Charlamagne's throne and where a couple dozen german kings were crowned. Our tour guide really knew his stuff and explained the symbolism of everything in the cathedral. I enjoyed the stained glass windows the most. The originals were destroyed in WWII but they redid them in a very interesting way. It was very simple but the different white, yellow and red represented missiles and fire, while the blue represented the darkness of the war. The windows are now a constant reminder of the horrors of the war. Something different for a cathedral, usually it's mostly religious but this was historical. After we got on the bus and headed home. Mostly studying for me this weekend so I can enjoy myself in Berlin next week.