The central idea was to re-establish face-to-face contact with electrical engineering colleagues after the pandemic. To this end, the Field Trip comprised a lot of different cultural sights alongside the conventional technological facilities to be visited.
On the day of arrival, OVE invited the participants to a reception at the rooftop terrace of the House of Engineers. The central topic of the following day was the sociability for which Austria is very well known. In the morning the group started to visit the famous Stift Klosterneuburg north of Vienna. After a brief tour through the history of wine production and the Stift itself, the group headed to a delicate wine tasting. For the afternoon a visit to the second biggest brewery in Austria, named after its location in Vienna’s 16th district Ottakring was planned. After the tour through the brewery and an explanation of the different types of beers which are brewed, the group visited the Ottakringer summer festival.
Sunday was provided as a mostly free time slot, to get the possibility to become acquainted with the historic capital of Austria. Only in the morning a guided city tour was provided for the participants to get some background information and the historical basics. The day ended with a dinner at a restaurant situated at the Danube River.
On Monday 22 August a technological tour started in the morning with a bus ride to the thermal power plant of Theiß with an installed power of around 800 MW. The tour comprised a brief presentation of Austria’s Energy production and consumption, a tour through the plant and a dinner at the visitor’s centre. After lunch the group headed upstream the Danube River and visited the famous Nuclear Power Plant Zwentendorf which has never been operational. Since it was a once in a lifetime experience to get to visit such a facility, the tour took nearly double the time as usual. Finally, not to miss out on sociality, the evening was spent at a traditional Austrian wine tavern in the picturesque region of Wachau.
On the last day of the EUREL Field Trip we had the pleasure to visit the main garage of the Wiener Linien, the public transport company of Vienna. It is in this respect the biggest garage in hold of a city. Most interestingly, the main garage of the Wiener Linien maintains all their vehicles whether busses, trams or subway trains themselves. Subsequently, the farewell lunch took place in the main garage’s own canteen. It was very pleasant to meet colleagues from all over Europe and spend time together visiting both cultural and technical facilities.
EUREL thanks OVE for the organisation of the field trip which was a good mix of technological visits and networking opportunities.
You can read more about the EUREL Field Trip in Vienna in OVE website (in German)
