Alex's Sweden Expedition

Home Sweet Home

Home at last! After the long day of travel, we have made it back home. We had a flight at 8:30 am. That flight was a quick flight to Stockholm to jump on the big flight to Chicago.

On the flight to Chicago, we got a meal and a snack. For the meal we got chicken, vegetables, and some cheese and crackers. It was good for plane food.

It was about a 9 hr flight but we left at about 10:30 am and we arrived in Chicago at 12:00 pm. We really didn’t miss much.

Looking back, the trip was fantastic and helped improve my knowledge of the business world. Sweden was kind to us and would go back in the summer for a different aspect of the city. JJ did a great job in getting all the companies set up for us. It was set up and worked well for everyone.

I am happy to be home though. Time to relax and recover a little before the start of spring semester.

Day 12- That’s a Wrap Folks

Final day in Gothenburg, Sweden it has been exquisite. I must admit it was a sad day but a very good feeling. For our last day, we went curling, shopping, and to a 5-Star restaurant. Today was the day to play and get out any last minute gifts and souvenirs bought.

Fun Fact: Curling has its own language. Curling is a very difficult game but it was fun to be able to learn more about it. First off, I did not know that they wore different shoes. The shoes are not slippery but when you take off the sleeve that is on the sole of the shoe it is like a full foot ice skate. I may have fallen…a couple times. When it came to throwing the stone, I had too much sauce, which means I used too much muscles. There were only a select few that got the technique down. We did try to play a game but some people did not really want to play so it held the game back. We ended up trying to play 2v2 and break the rules. 10/10 would go back and do some curling with people that actually want to play and have fun. You need players that do not just stand and talk the whole time.

After curling, everyone split up and went separate ways for shopping and food. So my group went to eat first, which was Stockyard Burger Joint. I got a guacamole burger because they only do specials for lunch and many places. I was hesitant to try it because I am not a big fan of guacamole. However, the burger was gigantic and very difficult to eat so I cut it in half. The guacamole did not bother me and the burger was fantastic as well as the fries. I found it really odd that they only have specials for lunch some days. It could be smart but also bad because one of the places that we tried to go to did the same thing and we did not like their food they were serving so we left.

Okay so if you remember a couple days ago I found a really cool shop that sold a bunch of ties. Today, I went back and bought one. It is a wool material and I really like how it feels. I was there at a lucky time because I was able to catch a deal at 50% off. I really was not going to get a tie but I was advised it would be a good memory and would be useful in the future. It was a good decision to go back.

Heading back to the hostel, someone decided they wanted to get a haircut before coming back home so we stopped in for him to get one. It was a unique barbershop. The layout and design was interesting with the older barber chairs and the barber, who was from Jerusalem. While he got his haircut, I sat on the couch that was so comfy that I almost fell asleep on.

Last meal in Gothenburg. We went to Heaven 23 in Gothia Towers. Gothia Towers are the tallest buildings in Gothenburg. We had to be dressed in Business casual/professional. This was a high roller restaurant and it looked like it especially being on the top floor. They had a special elevator that took you up and you could look out over Gothenburg as you headed up.

For our meal, we had The King’s Sandwich. So apparently this is what you have to eat if you come to Gothenburg. What was on this sandwich? Well shrimp, fish eggs, mayo, onions, pickled cucumber, hard boiled egg, and a pita bread. Interesting. Overall thoughts on this meal are not too positive. I did try everything and got about 3 quarters of the way done with it, but the taste was just not there and the mix of foods just made it weird. The textures all mixed together and that just put me off a bit. I am sorry if I upset a swede with this but my taste buds are just not for this sandwich.

Dessert can make everything better though. Everyone went to Tintin’s after to get some dessert. I ended up getting chocolate cake, which was kinda like a brownie. It had some vanilla cream on the side and all together it was amazing. So that was a great way to end a trip and last night in Sweden. Tomorrow, I will be back with family and friends. Hope to see you all when I get home. Have a good night!

Daily Reflection

Curling is harder than you think but you get the hang of it.
Gourmet foods are not as good as normal comfort foods.
Sometimes you need to find souvenirs for memories.

Day 11- End of Business

Today was the last day of company visits. We had 2 great companies in Braunability(Formerly Autoadapt) and Remente. It was a good day for visits with the great presenters and the weather was not the greatest.

Starting the day early but we got some special treatment. Braunability had decided to get us a nice bus for our trip to their building. It was the farthest company that we visit so we could not really use public transportation. We walked outside and this giant coach bus was sitting outside. It was not a double decker but we sat at the top of the bus and got some great views on our ride there and back. It was a nice gesture to get us a bus to make our way out.

We were greeted right away from the HR department. We had Christer, Rolf, Hasse, Sara, Anna, and Anna-Karin talk with us today. So Rolf started with the history of Autoadapt but last year they changed their name to Braunability. Then we split into two groups. One group stayed with Hasse and the other went with Christer. My group went with Christer first and we looked at their products and how they work within the vehicle. It was was beneficial to see them be used. They also have a product that is a lever that a customer can use as gas and brake if their legs are not able to push the pedals.

When time was up the group switched and now my group was with Hasse. We talked more about engineering and how to make the seats safe. I really enjoyed this part because I was between engineering and business for my major. I was able to answer some questions he asked but not all of them. He did a lot of hands on stuff that really kept us all engaged and I love it. After that we got lunch. I was so hungry I did not take a picture. It was really good and i believe it was a beef something. Then HR talked to us(we weren’t in trouble I swear). That presentation dealt with values and mission. This was also more activity based and was enjoyable to do.

They also had a Ducati 749R superbike. This specific bike was the second bike produced. This is intriguing and it sound like it was a gift to the owner from Ducati.

Last but not least, Remente! Remente deals with mental health. They have an app that you can download if you would like. What the app helps you do is set goals and get on track to help your mental health. The founding members are psychologist and they were working with professional athletes before. He really had some good information to talk about and it really was insightful. Even if you think you are never going to have mental health issues I would still suggest giving it a try.

Daily Reflection

Busses in Sweden are way cooler.
The amount of work toward safety is mind blowing.
Autoadapt is probably my favorite company visit. All the companies were great though.

Day 10- Moving Slow

Moving swiftly today was not on the agenda. The plan was to not set an alarm to see when I would wake up. Luckily, I woke up at 11:00 am. I was shock at how long I slept. So I got ready and we started with brunch but I just had some apple pie. Sam got some breakfast food. The apple pie was really good even without the sugar. They really do not believe in sugar over here and that is a good and bad thing to me.

Deciding to go back to Haga, I wanted to go to Skansen Kronan, which is also on a giant hill. The running question on the trip is if we are losing weight or gaining weight. From all of the walking, climbing, and stairs, I think I am on the losing side. I will also have some nice looking legs and calves from these inclines.

But there was a reward for the work of climbing the hill. We were able to see almost every part of Gothenburg up there. Skansen Kronan has been many things through the decades. It was a fortress, prison, military museum, and summer cafe. It was a really unique place and could tell that it was a fortress and prison as they still had about 6 of the 23 canons on the property. I like the finishing touch to the building with a nice crown at the point of it.

After our decent we look around some more Haga shops. Walking around was all we planned on doing because of the time and weather. We even happened to find our way to the river. Gothenburg has such a history down on the river with many boat manufacturer that used to have plants here. Most of those jobs are now in China with almost every other major manufacturing plants.

Trampoline! We walked into Iron Square and found a trampoline. I had to go jump on it. So the picture shows how I have master levitation. I really had some fun with the trampoline. It was not a normal type of trampoline though. It was more little rubber parts instead of the mesh type material. There was also a lot of garbage underneath of the trampoline that ranged from alcohol bottle(one shot bottle) to just normal gum wrapper.

For dinner tonight, we had pizza but we had to make starters and desserts. That means that we had to take a trip to the store. We all crammed into the store and got what we needed but we did take up a lot of space. After that we headed back up to the hostel to make the food and go get the pizza. There was some trouble making the food due to lack of kitchen supplies but with creativity the problem was solved. Overall it was a great dinner and the food was good.

Daily Reflection

Sleep is a very important necessity.
I think more cities should have a trampoline in the middle of town.
The hill up to Skansen Kronan was steeper than the hill at UW-Eau Claire.

Day 9- Shops, Bikes, Teslas Oh My!

Sleep is used to recharge the body and mind for the following day. I would like to get more sleep, however, my body clock decided today was the day to naturally wake up. I was able to sleep in today but instead I woke up at about 8 am again. Yes 8 am, that is so early and I do agree it is not that early but when you are averaging about 3-6 hours of sleep it is early. Anyway I took my time getting ready for the day. Went had some breakfast and meet with Susie and Sam Smith(not the singer) to go out on the town.

Starting the voyage, Susie, Sam, and I went to some smaller shops. Susie comes on the trip every time JJ brings a class so she knows almost all off the knitting and stationary shops, but Sam found one that she had yet to find. She was so excited to look around and see everything. Sam also bought a bunch of stuff.

So the semester before this trip I took a printmaking class. It was a great class much better than I would have ever thought. In the stationary shop, I found millions of printmaking paper and I thought it was really cool because I had just learned the difference in paper and I was able to recognize it.

We went in out of shops most of the morning and I spotted a nice tie and bow tie shop. They had so many different kinds of ties and they were all different materials. I thought it was a really cool stop but I just did not want to spend money and buy any. I might go back tomorrow depending and buy some but at this moment I do not have any in my possession.

Saluhallen Briggen was the destination for lunch. There were multiple restaurants that had food and you could pick from any. They had all authentic food and was not really a tourist place as most swedes go there for lunch. For lunch, I got the special which I do not know the actual name. However, it was pretty much meatloaf or swedish meatball patty with roasted potatoes. It was so good and could have eaten more but I decided one plate was enough.

After lunch, Sam and I broke off and went to a bike shop with some very expensive mountain bikes worth about $10,000. I was shocked at the price and did not want to touch anything. We also got a glimpse into their practice room when the weather does not allow them to train outside. We then tried to go to the Universeum. The Universeum is a multi climate areas indoors that have different sections. We decided that it was too busy to try to fight people to get a good look.

After the fluke at Universeum, travelling down Avenue was the next option. So we jumping and out of stores and even made a pit stop into the Hard Rock Cafe. Then walking down Avenue there was a cool statue that was on the sidewalk that I found to be kinda interesting.

We got back to a main road after many different shops, we went into Tesla. I also decided that I really wanted a Tesla. We were able to get in and out of the car and able to play with the instruments. I really wanted a Tesla before but now I really want one. It was a fun day. We also ended the night with some Himalayan food. Now we are going out to celebrate some birthdays that have happened while we have been in Sweden.

Daily Reflection

Himalayan food is actually really good and lamb is also.
Teslas have many different moving parts and automated systems its great.
When going out in Sweden make sure you looked nice.

Day 8- Putting Law in Water

Ending the week strong. Did not feel as long as the other days but it was a long day. Starting with Valea and ending with Xylem, we had a good day. It was also my day to navigate the group to a company.

I got to start the day off by navigating everyone to Valea. It was about a 25 minute trip from the hostel. I was able to get us there without using any navigation on my phone besides looking to see where the company was before we left. So in order to get to Valea, we had to get over a nice highway, which luckily had a nice bridge that went right over it. When we arrived at our destination we went up to the top floor of the building for our presentation. We were also greeted by Andrew, CEO and Founding Partner of Valea.

Valea had a nice view just like Qualisys. The view included the river and other buildings around. Due to legal reasons, we all signed non-disclosure agreements(NDA) that holds back what I can and cannot say from the presentation and what I saw from the company. However the presentation was so good and the information he gave I have enough to talk about. What was in the presentation covered patents because they are patent attorneys. It was really interesting to learn more about patents and how they work with the legal limits and how they can improve throughout years. There are some interesting loop holes that companies can find to destroy a patent and it is crazy to think people would do that just to help their company better. Andrew did a great job informing us on patents and it was a really interesting presentation.

After the presentation, everyone went down for some lunch with Andrew. We went into a building that looks like lipstick. I had a nice hamburger with a couple different kinds of potatoes also with a salad. All of the food was great and has been great. The only think keeping me from gaining weight is about the 16,000 steps I have been taking a day.

Moving on we had about an hour before we had to catch a bus to Xylem so we looked around Nordstan for that time period. We arrived at Xylem just in time for some Fika then the presentation started. Christian was the presenter at Xylem. He talked about their pumps, water supply, and more business parts than technical parts. So some of the information given in the presentation was shocking to find out and understand. The demand for water will increase five times by 2050. That is an astonishing fact that could be worry some. Another one is the amount of fresh drinkable water on earth stays the same meaning it just gets reused and the only way we would get more is if the glaciers melted.

Xylem makes nearly $4 billion in revenue. Their manufacturing plant is located in Emmaboda, Sweden and their factory is spotless. Quality is hard to find sometimes and Xylem understands that and they allow customers to come in to try pumps on site. Sweden also has a very high export rate which looking at Xylem it really holds true. Xylem has a 97% export rate out of Sweden. That is barely any products staying in Sweden.

After Xylem, everyone went back to the hostel and decided to rest a little. The week has gone by so fast but we have been so busy we barely got a break. Tonight was a good night to relax a little before we all go out and adventure around Gothenburg some more. We also had a nice view on the way back to the hostel as we drove over the big bridge in Gothenburg and got a nice picture.

Daily Reflection

Patents only last 20 years.
When you are busy time just flies by.
All the food is really good in Sweden and also healthier than in the United States.

Day 7- Robotics, Cameras, and FROLUNDA INDIANS!!

Glad you could make it back for another blog post. Today was a very busy day. It included being late to both company visits, cameras, digital technology, and HOCKEY! We started with Hasselblad, which is a camera company. Hasselblad a more historic background because they have put the only camera on the moon. The camera that was on the moon was a modified 500-C. They also left about 11 cameras on the moon due to being overweight after picking up space rocks. So now the company caters to more professional photographers as their prices are more expensive than most. Thanks to Ove Bengtsson, we were able to try out many different models. I am no photographer, but I would really become on with one of these cameras. The pictures I took on one of the cameras were fantastic and I am no professional. Hasselblad is also making advancements for older model cameras to have the same quality as the new models.

We also went into their lab where they put the cameras together. This was really cool and it takes about 6 hours to finish one camera. Out of the 6 hours, most of the time spent is on calibration. Ove was a great host and did a great job with the presentation and answering all our questions.

After Hasselblad, we left and ran for a bus down the road. After we were on that bus for about 10 minutes, we got off and sat at a bus stop for about 30 minutes before the next bus got there. It was a really frustrating day of travel. It makes the day feel a lot longer and makes us look bad.

When we finally arrived at ABB Robotics, we were greeted by Bertil. Bertil was also JJ’s old boss. Yes, JJ Sheilds use to work at ABB Robotics. Food was on the mind also. So peas soup and swedish pancakes were on the menu because it is a special day for swedes. Thursday is the only day you can eat this. The texture was not the greatest but was not bad. The swedish pancakes were not what I’m used to so I did not enjoy them as much.

For the presentation given at ABB was about augmented and mixed reality. It was cool to see the innovation and advances in technology. There are new virtual reality systems coming out and also augmented reality systems. These things can have things show up without them being there but they are projected into the real world. Bertil did a great job with the presentation and you could see how much he loves these things because he had passion for it.

Time to have leisure time and cheer on Frolunda Indians. It was a special night for Frolunda because Joel Lundqvist brother of Henrik Lundqvist, goalie for New York Rangers, was playing in his 1000 game tonight. The game was very high energy and the indians dominated with a 8-4 win. The crowd was crazy the whole time. Our group was able to get Lauren and Matt S. on the kiss cam.

Daily Reflection

Hasselblad has cameras that cost more than some cars.
Frolunda fans love Chicago and Americans.
If you do not hit transportation just right you will be very late.

Day 6- Rolling into a Wall at Volvo

Alright who is ready to hit a wall? Well today we took a look inside Volvo. We spent all day with Volvo then later at night we went to Aveqia for a gourmet cooking class. Due to security and safety, we were unable to take pictures at Volvo but I will still have the mental images that I can share with you.

Before I get right into the action, I want to talk about food. I had pork medallion with a green pepper sauce and side of hash browns and grilled tomato. This food was really good and would eat again except maybe the tomato. I am not the biggest fan of tomatoes but have to try everything at least once. After lunch we headed down into the gated part of Volvo into a restricted area. Our presenters included Morgan and Sylvia, which in fact it was their first crash test also. Wait crash test! Yes, you heard it right. We got to see a crash test in person. They were completing a requirement for the United States with the test. We had a nice presentation right before it happened with some stats on crashes and innovation. So they were testing a new hybrid vehicle coming out soon. It was a quick test and if you blinked you could have missed it. Many people from Volvo have stated that it is very hard to get into a crash test, which I take as a great honor to be one of a handful of people to observe the crash.

After the crash test, we moved on to the assembly line. Morgan lead the group through the factory. It was great to see how smooth the line moved through the factory and everything come together into one. Thank you to Morgan and Sylvia for making all of this happen because this was a once in a lifetime moment. It will also be fun to see them at dinner and hockey game tomorrow.

Time to play and eat some gourmet food. Tonight, we did a cooking class. This included a 4-course meal. We all split up into 4 groups and made our food we were instructed to make. So my group chose the entree, which was reindeer(Rudolph). As gourmet foods work is with many different flavors coming all together to make a delicious taste. So we started to prep the meals and we had fun making it while we all laughed and took pictures. The chef and sous-chef were fun and very friendly. They really made the experience better and made all of us feel good about what we made. I am trying not to be bias but I’m pretty sure my groups food was the best.

So now we are looking forward to our longest day of the trip tomorrow. Tomorrow we plan on going to Hasselblad, ABB Robotics, and a Frolunda Indians hockey game. These are some very interesting companies that I look forward to seeing more about them. About half way through the expedition, I hope you are enjoying the blogs and there is still more to come.

Daily Reflection

Always wear your seat belt.
Gourmet cooking is good but some of the flavors can take you for a ride.
There are some very serious hockey fans in Gothenburg.

Day 5- Always Moving Forward

Rolling into day 5 now! Taking a look around Qualisys and SKF. There have been some long days but they are definitely worth it with the companies we are visiting. So let me dive right in to tell you about my day.

We started the day with Qualisys and we did arrive early today unlike yesterday. Just thinking about the location of this building as we walked up this nice large hill to the top, I thought there should be a nice view and I was not wrong because it over looked the river. The presentation was given by Magnus Sjölin, Market Area Director. He presented information on their products and what companies and sections they are in. The sections the are in are life science, engineering, and they just enter the entertainment section in 2019. The Opus 7+ is the fastest camera on the market. They have a lot of support from their customers because they have 96% of their customers willing to recommend their products to others. They did recently make a hybrid camera that can use markers or be markerless. The difference is that a marker is a little ball that is a sensor on someone to get a 3D image of a person and their movements.

Even though Magnus gave a nice presentation, we were also informed on Qualisys’s marketing. This was given by Helen Holmqvist Ryden, Marketing & Communication Manager Glob. She talked about the progression and change that has happened in her 4 years of working at Qualisys. Qualisys now has a condensed social media now as it used to be spread out over multiple accounts. They have added 17 more employees also.

Okay so now on to the fun stuff. Not that I’m saying the other stuff wasn’t fun but the demos were amazing. First we had Robby gear up for some running on a treadmill to analyze his running. It was very cool to see what areas it tracked and looked at to help trainers improve their clients needs. What we learned about Robby is he has good running form and is in some good physical shape. Another demo we had was the animation, which 3 young business professionals participated in.

Matt, Sam, and Nicole got in the suits and got all sensored up. They just danced around and did some cartwheels(well at least attempted one). It was fun to watch and see the animation on the screen. It is cool how the technology is advancing and that we are improving it day after day. If we were 2 weeks later, we could have tested out their new VR system that they have coming soon. The system that is coming out makes it so the system is mobile and you are able to pick things up and use them using VR. I really wish we could have played around with it. If not for Vincent and Katarina we would not have been able to do any of these demos and it was great to get some in person action of the products.

Moving forward to our second company of the day, SKF. As we arrived, we were enlightened about the worlds largest ball bearing that sits in front of SKF headquarters. It was a cool start of the visit and shortly after walking through the front door we were brought into a nice movie theater room. Lars Werner talked about the history of SKF and showed a nice 7 minute video before showing us around a nice exhibit. I liked how energetic and upbeat Lars was when he was talking to us. The exhibit was really interesting with all different types off ball bearings and showing what they are used in and also knowing how much they also have in a normal car. It is really fascinating that SKF did not even see a profit for its first 4 years of operation. We also got a tour of the factory but due to safety we were unable to take pictures. However, I can still tell you what I saw. In the factory, I saw some forklifts driving themselves(talk about innovation). They were given task and they did it as most employees working in the factory mainly fix a problem or give a command to a machine. That makes things easier and a lot more efficient.

Daily Reflection

Technology is moving in the right place to make peoples health and wellness better.
Ball Bearings are in everything and is crazy to see how big SKF really is.
The difference between a small and large company is so much different but you can see the work they put in to get to where they are.

Day 4- Time for Business Experience

Getting experience is now on the agenda. Moving into Monday we traveled to Skapa but before we left, I had some yogurt and a lemon ginger honey shot. It helps the immune system. So now we start our trip to Skapa and one of the young business professionals on the trip has to navigate to the company. Today’s young business professional got lost and pretty much gave up so I decided to step in and help get us to the company close to the meeting time. We were about 10 minutes late but without my help it would have taken much longer to arrive.

We met with Erik Ekholm, Ceo of Skapa. Erik was a Naval Architect but he decided to found Skapa in 1996. Skapa has 2 parts that they work to and that is communications and marketing and web, technology, and development. They work mainly with content marketing to help companies find solutions for their customers. Some larger customers include Caterpillar and Volvo Penta. They have gotten clients top google search spots, which was organic position. They use a publish plan to help keep consistent blog post for the months. We also had some time to meet with some of the employees.

Some of the strategies they have for define your goal. They are increase brand awareness, improve client engagement, build trust/confidence, improve customer support efficiency, and attract/retain key workers. I also got the opportunity to talk to Lars Andersson, Chief Digital Strategist. He said when looking for a solution for the problem they look at the company they are working with customers to see their benefits to help fix the problem. Erik’s presentation gave some good information on content marketing to get a understanding and Lars had some good insight into how to work with customers and the company.

After Skapa, we made our way over to Gothenburg University for lunch and a lecture from Dr.Claes Alvstam and Martin Oberg. The lunch we had was baked cod with potatoes with a cream sauce. It was really good and we got free red bull. The lecture consisted of learning the history and economy of Gothenburg and Sweden. 9 out of 10 million swedes live below lat 60 N. The facts that were provided were interesting to see compared to the states.

After we were done and on our own some of us decided to go to nordstan and find a place to eat. We decided to stop and eat a pizza and pasta buffet. It was really good. We took a look around many of the stores and they were more touristy places but they were large stores that were fun to look through. Some of us went out a little later also and had some laughs around the table and just are enjoying our time together on this trip. Tomorrow we are headed to Qualysis and SKF so these are two very interesting companies that should have great presentations for us. Hopefully we can get to where we need to go on time this time.

Daily Reflection

Content marketing takes a lot of strategy and time to get every right.
Sweden’s GDP is better than Wisconsin but not by much.
Public transportation is getting easier.