Student Perspective

Durres Albania

Every student who traveled to Albania has a story...

Six of the 24 students at the Albania Project Center during the Fall of 2016 lend their voices with details of their immersion experience—and every one of them shares a little something, from what they learned to how they've changed or where they hope to go from here. (Jason Bruno, profiled, took many photos featured here, including the one above).

Emma Ryan
Emma Ryan
Mechanical Engineering
About Emma
Jacob St. Germain
Jacob St. Germain
Management Engineering
About Jacob
Jason Bruno
Jason Bruno
Chemical Engineering
About Jason
Sara Larson
Sara Larson
Biology and Biotechnology
About Sara
Shamsur Rahman Saikat
Shamsur Rahman Saikat
Mechanical Engineering
About Shamsur
Mary Vierling
Mary Vierling
Aerospace Engineering
About Mary
Cassidy Litch
In computer science or software engineering it's imperative to work in teams so I appreciate the team aspect and collaboration WPI works into the curriculum and projects.
  • Cassidy Litch
  • Mathematical Science and Computer Science
Ethan Gouveia
All of our different team perspectives and backgrounds definitely helped us get a bunch of different ideas for how we were going to do things.
  • Ethan Gouveia
  • Computer Science and Mathematical Science
Benjamin Morton
Albania was just this reoccurring pattern of things you thought you never would be able to do and that is what the Interactive Qualifying Project has done for me.
  • Benjamin Morton
  • Mechanical Engineering
Daniel Corwin
It’s fascinating to be in an environment where you are not just working with the professionals, they almost consider you as professionals.
  • Daniel Corwin
  • Mechanical Engineering
Daniel Amirault
I’m really drawn to land conservation and this project has intrigued me from the start on protecting the natural state of the world around us.
  • Daniel Amirault
  • Biomedical Engineering
Michael Collins
Working with people is important in any job and so I think that is a big thing I got out of the experience.
  • Michael Collins
  • Civil Engineering
Basak Soylu
I feel this experience will make me more adventurous in the future to go to places that I wouldn’t think to go. I really want to try out different things.
  • Basak Soylu
  • Mechanical Engineering
Jeremy Hemingway
I’d say you're never fully prepared for how complete and immersive this project experience really is—I don’t think anyone could ever prepare you until you come and do it.
  • Jeremy Hemingway
  • Chemical Engineering
Elizabeth Towle
This has been a really eye opening experience on how to actually be independent and how to thrive in a situation that you have never been in before.
  • Elizabeth Towle
  • Chemical Engineering
Nathan Beeton
The main challenge for me was learning how to teach .. trying to figure out how to communicate something to people that don’t speak English as a first language.
  • Nathan Beeton
  • Robotics Engineering
Benjamin Titus
Having to teach a class of high school students is something that I didn't see myself doing but this project forced me to have to leave my comfort zone back in Massachusetts
  • Benjamin Titus
  • Electrical & Computer Engineering and Robotics Engineering
Bridget Rinkel
The people we have met through our project have a passion for entrepreneurship and just learning in general and it’s very inspiring to see that here in this developing city.
  • Bridget Rinkel
  • Biomedical Engineering
Christopher Cormier
Unlike traditional study abroad programs, this project allowed me to work in the field with professionals versus simply studying in a different locale or language.
  • Christopher Cormier
  • Robotics Engineering and Computer Science
James Zheng
From this experience I hope to bring the skills I learned from conducting interviews and working with my team to the professional world.
  • James Zheng
  • Chemical Engineering
Carlos Chong
I’ve grown up a lot in South American culture since most of my family is from there, so it’s very interesting getting another aspect of culture entirely.
  • Carlos Chong
  • Chemical Engineering

WPI student Jacob St. Germain assists Harry Fultz Institute students during a robotics club program lesson

A student team takes a tour at a medicinal and aromatic plant collector facility in the Berat region

Students cross a pedestrian bridge over the Osumi River in Berat while touring the region during a weekend trip

A student team with the project sponsor taking notes after interviewing pharmacies in Tirana, the capital city of Albania

A student team exploring the banks of the Osumi Canyon where white water rafting excursions are run by their project sponsor

A student team meeting at the sponsor’s office, YUNUS Social Business, located in the city of Tirana

WPI student Daniel Amirault playing a song after being invited up by the organist at the Castle Park Restaurant in Berat

Stopping for a rest and water at the Simoni Kafe during a hiking excursion to the Valbona region in northern Albania

A student team meeting with stakeholders in their project sponsor’s booth at the Balkans Joint Conference in Tirana

A weekend visit to Durres, the largest port and second largest city in Albania

Faculty Perspective
Sponsor Perspective
Alumni Perspective