My name is Hussein Hashi and I’m a fourth year chemical engineering co-op student at Ryerson University.

This summer I had the opportunity to complete an internship as a research assistant at the University of Stuttgart in Stuttgart, Germany.  This internship at Institute for Chemical Process Engineering (ICVT) was taken through the Ontario/Baden-Wurttemberg Summer Research Program.

Why I wanted to go on an exchange
I was interested in this exchange program for many different reasons. Personally, I wanted to develop an awareness and understanding of a different culture.

Academically, I want to pursue a research-based master’s program in the future and thought that this would be a good way to find out if I was interested in research.

Professionally, I hoped that this experience would assist me to become a better engineer by learning how to communicate across many different cultures.

How I adjusted to life in Germany
The University of Stuttgart has two campuses, one downtown and the other in the suburb of Vaihingen. They have many dormitories and apartment flats in Vaihingen campus and around the city, which are similar to campus dormitories in Ontario and are reasonably priced.

My experience living on campus was great because of my roommates who were an awesome group of people to be around and hailed from across the globe.

The university international office has a pretty amazing welcome buddy program that pairs you with a student that helps with the process and makes it much easier.

Overall, with this experience abroad, I have accomplished all the goals that I have set for myself, made lifelong friends, and I have memories I will never forget.

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