Hal's Legacy: His Third Student to Move to Europe?

One of the buildings on the KTH Royal Institute of Technology campus.

After the talks we saw today I am considering doing a master's degree at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, which would make me yet another one of Hal's students that have moved to Europe since being in his class... Jokes aside and regardless of if that happens or not, what I loved about class today was that I got to see a college with a strong program in the intersection of what I am interested in. I've been able to study food science and computer science at the U of M, but I haven't seen those combined in a focused way outside of the research I do at the U. KTH has a dedicated research group that is looking at food security and resilience, and they specifically bring in data visualization as an important aspect of their research and methodology. Talking to producers while on this trip has continued to hone my interest in the human side of agriculture and the politics that influence agricultural decisions, but I think there are always different ways to approach food systems with tools that aren't necessarily thought of as a key part of "food systems" research. I loved that the FoodTech student group that talked to us organized a Hackathon because it is a great way to integrate both problem solving and data and software engineering for a food system supply chain issue that needs to be addressed. There are a huge number of opportunities available at the U of M, but it was great to hear about how universities across the world are bringing disciplines together to address the problems that affect the entire planet. As I continue to study at the U and figure out a career path, it will continue to be useful to learn about potential opportunities like this and decide what I think I could do to make an impact like the researchers at KTH.