The joy of puzzling

Jennifer has always wanted to fight disease and solve problems. That's why she initially planned to become a medical doctor. But, at some point, she realized that her excellent grades in math and physics meant she could help to improve people's health in a completely different way: She studied Medical Engineering, earned her PhD in Physics and became an Innovation Expert for ophthalmic implants and clinical workflows in Advanced Development at ZEISS. In other words: She became an inventor.

What's working as an inventor like? What's Jennifer's process for creating the patents of tomorrow and the innovations of the future? "I consider the process as a whole, for example the treatment of cataracts," the developer explains. A cataract is an eye condition where the lens in the eye becomes cloudy. It leads to blurred vision and an increasing loss of sight. Jennifer interviews doctors and talks to patients to give her a better understanding of what it's like to provide and receive treatment. She recently attended a conference in Singapore and sat in on various clinics. This helped her to identify challenges and discover the potential to improve treatment. "I don't focus on one step in the workflow or an individual device – I observe clinical workflows and connections," she says.

For her job, Jennifer needs a great technical understanding as well as in-depth knowledge of the medical applications. Alongside information from current research, it is mainly the insights from users and patients that lead to new ideas. Jennifer applies the "design thinking" approach here. And she has a lot of freedom to focus on the thought processes in her work and to assume different roles: Brainstormer, technology scout, developer or even project manager.