First three days of the post-doc

Wednesday was my first day of work as a post-doctoral researcher, i.e. post-doc, in the Life Cycle Engineering Department of Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics. Those of you in the LCA community know this department by the software they developed, GaBi.

In honor of my first day, Stuttgart graced us with a surprise snowstorm Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning, the city was covered in a thin blanket of white fluff. Nobody was phased by the snow, however. Schools started on time and trains ran (more or less) according to schedule.

The typical commute between my apartment and work averages 25 minutes: 8 minutes to walk to the train (S-Bahn) station at Schwabstrasse, +/- 3 minutes to wait for a train, 7 minutes on the train, and 7 minutes to walk from the train station Österfeld to the engineering park where I work.

Stuttgart is built in and around a valley, or "Kessel", as the locals call it. Österfeld is located on an upper side of the valley and overlooks a large portion of the center of the city. The next few photos were taken from the Österfeld train station.

Snowy train tracks

Overlooking Stuttgart from the Österfeld train station

Autobahn clear Wednesday morning

While the city's shape and slope(s) create breathtaking views, these features also present some logistical challenges and quirks. For example, many streets are layered on top of one another, similar to the way highway interchanges are typically layered. The difference in Stuttgart is that these are small roads, not major highways, and getting from one layered road to the next usually requires climbing steps built into the many hills throughout the city. Google Maps is hopeless here. (Hint to Google: revising the current Stuttgart map would make for an awesome team project.)

As I mentioned earlier, my office forms part of an "engineering park", the idea behind which is to group approximately 100 engineering and technology organizations together and offer just enough services within the park to make it feel like a community. Services include a full cafeteria, a bakery, coffee shop, dry cleaner, barber, fitness studio, spa, and travel agency. With a grocery store 15 minutes away by foot, people joke that employees never need to leave the area.

Engineering park where I'm working

My office, shared with two colleagues. I have the window seat on the right.

Far more important than any individual perk are the people with whom one works. My colleagues and department are exceptional in this respect. Everyone is invested in one another's success and in the success of the group. The amount of camaraderie and mentorship I have already received has been amazing. The only downside to working with such a passionate group of people ... is that we're a passionate group of people. We are so interested in the subject matter that we get wrapped up in deep conversations fairly easily. Thank goodness we often eat lunch together and have regular tea and coffee breaks for short chats. (The amount of espresso consumed in the office may also influence the rate of idea exchange.)

All in all, my first (half-)week of work was quite the success. I look forward to Monday and Tuesday being just as interesting and rewarding.