Ever wondered what it is like to be in a place where everything is possible, where ideas turn into reality, where the world is not made up by things, but you make the world? If you can picture that, then you can get a glimpse of what EBEC is all about!

During the 10 intensive days of the Final Round of the European BEST Engineering Competition, students from all corners of Europe were called to prove their teamwork, their innovation and their passion, they were urged to exceed their limits, to fail and to succeed, to design their future. But it is not only these that made this experience valuable, because EBEC is not just a competition. This event challenged students to familiarize with different cultural backgrounds, to unite their differences, to enjoy themselves and to forge friendships that surpass the competitiveness.

These attributes were revealed beyond any shadow of a doubt on the 4th of August, when the first presentations of Team Design took place. The atmosphere was tense in the Entrance Hall of the University of Belgrade; everyone was on edge when the first team managed to assemble the box and held their breath when the box containing the egg performed the drop test. The audience was not disappointed, for when the egg was retrieved intact, the Hall came to life, participants, organisers and jury burst into applauding, they cheered together for the team and the EBEC spirit shined! It is not the destination that matters, they say, it is the journey. If we look back at the Journey to Belgrade, we can see that in the one year it lasted, it embraced thousands of students – participants and organisers – on its way through Europe. EBEC challenged all these people, took the best out of them and allowed them to materialize their dreams. Though, as all journeys, the one to Belgrade had to come to an end as well. “In your Journey, there may have been times when you enjoyed the ride and times you might have wanted to leave the road on the way” said Adrien Merlier, President of BEST during the Closing Ceremony. “But in the end, you all reached the finish line in this memorable journey and even though today there will only be one winner in each category, I know that in reality, each and everyone of you won something greater than a trophy. Here, you got a glimpse of what modern engineers do; using their creativity and knowledge together towards one common goal, to challenge the impossible!” EBEC 2016 may have ended, but EBEC returns soon to inspire, to motivate and to develop the next generation of engineering students. A new adventure begins soon, towards one new destination; EBEC Final 2017 in Brno!

By Sotiria Athanasiadou

The text originally appeared on: http://ebec.best.eu.org/index.php