Three questionsfor biomedical engineer Katarzyna Polak-Kraśna

What’s the most exciting thing about your job?

The most exciting aspect of being a scientist is the constant unknown. Is the next breakthrough just around the corner? What exciting new project will come up? What new topic will I explore next? What inspiring people will I get to work with? What new administrative challenge will I have to face today? Learning something new all the time keeps me on my toes.

If money and time were no object, what would your next project be?

I’m very fortunate and can work on all the projects that I’m passionate about. We’re developing cardiovascular implants using active polymers and sensors to help with strokes and bring a new dimension to minimally invasive therapies. With unlimited resources, I would hire an even bigger team of excellent scientists and clinicians to move this project forward as quickly as possible and get it through animal and clinical trials. In the end, we would be able to offer patients new implants to help them recover.

If you could choose anyone, who would you like to have dinner with and what would you talk about?

I would have dinner with Neil deGrasse Tyson and talk about the probability of humans actually living in a giant simulation, and about the origin of the universe.