George Abbato, Plus3 Engineering Summer 2025
Personally, study abroad made a huge impact in my career’s direction and goals. In Bilbao, we had the opportunity to see a lot of research first hand, which contributed to a lot of my newfound goals. On a short term basis, I realized that I need to take advantage of research opportunities at Pitt. A lot of the research we saw was in the biomedical engineering field, which can really help people directly. While I am an electrical engineering major, a lot of the research at Pitt
is still directed towards healthcare, which is something I want to be involved in. Even though it is unlikely to see the fruits of your labor from research, it seems very valuable in the experience that you can gain for the future.
Probably the most impactful research we saw was the development of a product called Eureka, which had the goal of helping stroke patients recover. It would assess their balance, and as a result, allow for the recovery process to be more personalized. This also shows the intersection of different fields, and it made me realize that even though I am an electrical engineering major, I can work with such a wide variety of professionals. We also were able to interact a lot with the people working on these projects. It was so inspiring to see how they reached that point in their careers and connect with them.
In addition, I realized the importance of having a network and connections. While everyone emphasized this before, I never saw it first-hand. I learned how to actually connect with people in a professional manner, and I now have people in Spain that I could definitely reach out to. In the future, I will continue to network with people, which opens so many doors.
In just two weeks, I learned so much about how I am going to live my next four years at Pitt, and even after that professionally. For this reason, I strongly recommend going abroad in any capacity, as it will help shift perspectives professionally, socially, and culturally. For this reason, I definitely want to go abroad again, whether in my personal or professional career.
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