- [Candice] I love getting a chance to help people and really do something meaningful.

That's worth more to me than any amount of money is.

- [Rylee] Hi, I'm Rylee, and I'm on a mission to talk to as many engineers as I can about their lives designing the world around us.

Today I'm talking to an engineer that designs devices surgeons use to save lives.

I'm gonna find out how she does such important work and how she engineered her future.

Ready?

Let's go.

(cheerful music) Hey Candice.

- Hi Rylee.

- So you design surgical devices.

What is one of the coolest devices you've created?

- Yeah, so at Ethicon, there's a lot of different devices we work on, but my favorite is an electrosurgical device.

- Can you tell me more about that?

- [Candice] So an electrosurgical device is an instrument that uses electricity, pressure and time to seal tissue so that you can stop and control bleeding and manipulate tissue.

- That is pretty cool.

So how do you know what device to work on next, or when to start another device?

- [Candice] That comes from observation in the field.

So as a part of my job, I get to go out and see surgeries.

I get to see surgeons use tools that are already on the market.

So we start another device when we've identified another unmet need and identifying where can we help the surgeon next.

- When do you know a device is ready?

- That's a good question.

So we do a lot of mechanical testing in the lab, so, you know, pushing on things until they break so that you can make those different mechanical components stronger.

We also test our devices on animal tissue to make sure that they're working correctly.

- So what got you into designing medical devices?

- [Candice] My dad's a pediatrician, so I grew up kind of around the medical field, but I knew I didn't wanna be a doctor, but I loved to build things and make things, and I've always had a passion for helping people and really wanting to make this world a better place.

And I chose that route with Ethicon, as I wanted to work on something that was really meaningful and could make a difference in somebody's life.

- So I bet to make such important devices, you had to have perfect grades in school.

- Yeah, that is definitely not true.

I was not a straight A or even a B student.

So I didn't necessarily have the attention span much for school when I was younger.

But what I did have in school was a sense of curiosity, and really, that's the core of engineering is wanting to understand how something works and how you can make something better.

I did get to a point in high school and college where I learned, you know, I can apply myself, and I can learn the mathematics and the physics and everything else that you need.

Those things are very teachable, and as long as you have the curiosity, that really sets you up well for being an engineer.

- So this is the big question.

What gives you the most satisfaction in your career?

- The most satisfying thing is when you have a really challenging problem to solve and you work with a team to solve that problem, and getting to do that with diverse people and diverse thoughts to come together and solve these problems and make devices that make human lives better is really satisfying for me.

- So it's clear that you like helping other people.

What are some things you like to do for yourself?

What's one of your favorite hobbies?

- Well, I absolutely love traveling.

I love getting lost in a new place 'cause you never know what you're gonna discover.

I also really love gardening.

I love seeing things grow and thrive.

And then I really love art as well.

It's a passion that I've kinda learned from my dad.

He's an artist and taught my sister and I how to paint and draw and express ourselves creatively.

I also like to blend art and technology.

So a new thing I've started doing is actually designing art with a laser cutter that can be programmed and follow specific pattern to make really cool pieces of art.

- So who was your inspiration growing up?

- Growing up, I really loved Leonardo da Vinci.

He was an artist and a musician, but a mathematician, an engineer, a scientist, just being able to do all of these different things and being able to combine them to really make some cool inventions.

I always found that inspiring growing up.

- That is cool.

Okay, so what is a piece of advice you wish somebody would've given you when you were growing up?

- [Candice] My biggest piece of advice is to always be curious.

That's the core of engineering is you can't solve the problems unless you ask the right questions.

- Thank you so much, Candice, for showing me how you engineered your future.

Bye.

- Bye Riley.

(cheerful music) - [Rylee] Mission accomplished.

(cheerful music) - We'll see if I can do this without stabbing my hand on camera.

(cheerful music)