- What do you like most about working on PLS?
The fact that we are working on a very complex and ambitious project, almost a moonshot. But you know that with the expertise involved in the consortium it will become reality very soon!
- What is the coolest thing about your field?
I get to work with technologies that can really make a difference in the hospital and save people’s lives. And of course not only the technologies, but also the inspiring people behind a product. I get to meet a lot of different professionals and from each of them there is a lot to learn.
- What do you want to achieve with your research?
We want to provide ways of testing the components and methods of the PLS system that can give the best insight possible on how ready a certain technology is. This means that our setups need to be as similar as possible to the final environment of the application. To make it a bit more practical, it means that we want to develop a setup where an organ can be perfused for days or weeks. This organ will serve as the first step to test the PLS system.
- Name a value that drives you?
Passionate
- Share a turning point or defining moment in your work as a scientist?
I think running experiments for clients at LifeTec Group. It’s not anymore part of a course at university, it’s about real questions on a biomedical device that will be used by doctors on actual people.
- What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I really like gardening, it helps me to relax and puts me in a different mindset than when I am at work. I also play the drums and listen to a lot of music. Maybe a bit too low in the list there’s also doing some sports, I enjoy going bouldering and sailing.
- Name a favorite book/movie/podcast? Why is it so good?
A book that I can recommend is ‘Let my people go surfing’ by Yvon Chouinard. It is the autobiography of the founder of the company Patagonia and also a manual of the values that drive the company: quality, respect for the people and for the planet. There’s definitely a lot to learn for everyone, whether a manager that is inspired by the management style or a reader that just wants to know more about what we can do to save the planet and at the same time keep our economy going.
- What is your favorite quote?
The one quote that always stuck with me is from Galileo Galilei: “eppur si muove”, which in English translates to “and yet it moves”. It’s actually attributed to him, and he is supposed to have said it when he was forced by the Church to recant his claims that the Earth moves around the Sun. With it he wanted to say that whatever the doctrine of the time said, the Earth does actually move around the Sun.
