Intelligent Structural Health Management of Aerospace, Mechanical and Civil Structures

India was a remarkable place. It sometimes felt like the cities were the very meeting places of the industrialized world and the cultural and traditional lives of centuries ago. The differences in social norms, some subtle and some drastic, proved to me the importance of investing in exchange programs.

I remember from day one, as our small group stood huddled by our airport terminal, our excitement. This excitement never left us as we tasted the foods, explored the cities, and interacted with India's people.

Our lab work gave us challenges to overcome and gave us great insight into the world of non destructive evaluation. As we talked to the variety of engineers working on the diverse sets of NDE projects, I was reminded of how fragile the manufactured world around us was, and how the boundaries of human understanding of the physical world were still very much within our sight.

Overall, this grand experience taught me many things. Most importantly, I've learned how to take full advantage of my time at Northwestern through great programs like this, which take you away from the blackboard and the problem sets, and throw you into the heart of the process and the people and places that move that process forward.