Post date: Oct 15, 2015 7:17:53 PM
Seven weeks ago, I knew little about the city of Venice, Italy, the major problems that affect the city, or even how many important problems could exist to negatively affect a city. Our IQP immediately dove into our project topic of reducing moto ondoso, and I immediately began to learn about this problem. The wakes caused by the different types of motor boats in the city, which are the main form of transportation, have a major negative impact on the canal walls, as they destroy the walls over time. I learned how many different aspects of the problem exist and how many different things we would have to research in order to not only understand the problem, but try to reduce it.
This also helped me understand how big-picture problems can exist in different countries. Something as simple as a wake produced by a boat can damage the canal walls of a city, and cause a major problem. Things that you would not usually think of as being a big deal can lead to major issues. This gave me a different perspective on things, and showed me how important problem solving and analysis are, so we are able to dive into problems, find the root causes, and work to fix them. I am very excited to travel to Venice to dive into this!
Nick