Hi everyone, I’m Sam Predmore, a rising senior majoring in Industrial Engineering here at the University of Pittsburgh, with a concentration in Operations Research and Computer Modeling and an Engineering Data Analytics certificate. Outside of class, I play on the club Ultimate Frisbee team, volunteer at Challah for Hunger, and will be working as a teaching assistant next year. I also enjoy hiking, disc golf, and playing bass guitar. Generally though, as long as I’m outside I’m happy, which is one of the main reasons behind why I am interested in sustainability. I really like the earth how it is right now, and I want to spend my time and energy working to keep it this way.
For the next month I will be studying Sustainable Energy Systems at the Munich University of Applied Sciences in Munich, Germany. I am excited about this program for a variety of reasons, one of the most important of which is its location. Germany has a history of excellent engineering, and I think that exposure to the different ways that engineers in Germany approach problems will provide me with new perspectives that will expand my ability to deal with challenges that I will face in my future studies and career. Additionally, this program will provide me with an opportunity to deepen my knowledge of German culture. I was born in Frankfurt, Germany and lived there until I was one, and later returned to a small Bavarian town for two years in elementary school. During this time I was exposed to Germany and its way of life, but being so young I wasn’t able to fully appreciate what it had to offer. I hope that this program will allow me to supplement my current understanding of Germany with a more mature viewpoint.
Another reason why I am excited about this program is because of how it will help me accomplish my post-graduation goals. At the moment, my plan after graduation is to pursue a master’s degree in Sustainability Engineering through the accelerated masters program here at Pitt. Taking the sustainability courses offered by this program should provide me with a baseline understanding of many principles that will be fundamental for my studies in graduate school. So far my coursework at Pitt has been very by the book for Industrial Engineers, taking the required courses for graduation with little room for other classes. I think that this summer term will be a nice change of pace for me compared to the last two years of classes, shining a light on a new field that I have always found interesting and will be using for the foreseeable future.