 What I tell to any student who comes to my office thinking they want to do research and I'll say well why do you want to do research and they'll say well I want to learn about it and that's great and then I'll say well what do you want to do we have many different projects what would you like to get involved in and the answer usually is I don't know and I'll say okay I'm going to list ten things tell me when your heart rate goes up and which of those ten things your heart rate goes up that means there's something about that we don't know what it is at this point doesn't matter but that means that you're either passionate about it or it resonates because of the personal issue doesn't matter but I think you have to start with something that gets you excited you know and if you don't know go go pick up a couple of journals and just thumb through them you don't have to read them look at titles look at images and wherever you start to stop more than you just thumb that's a good starting point and then just go from there. Science especially in the area of biomedicine is very young it's a field that in some ways is only a hundred years old when we read textbooks or we learn about biology in high school or college it sort of feels like everything's known and I think when you feel that way you you also respond by thinking that there's nothing I can do here to make to learn more or to make things better what I would urge people to realize is that there's so much to do because there are so many things that we don't know and yet what's limiting us from knowing those things is not having enough creative people. Mentoring is the most gratifying part of my job as a deputy director of this Institute. I think it's very important for students to get mentors. Don't be deterred or discouraged that these are so-called big shots in the field including the Nobel laureates. Don't be shy go up and ask in my own career I found out those who are most successful in science in their professions are also likewise the most generous. It doesn't matter where they what they want to work on need to study the math the physics and the chemistry and on a practical note that makes you such a more attractive candidate when you're trying to find a job. I tell the freshman that it's really important that you learn math chemistry and physics because believe it or not you're really going to use a lot of that in my junior year course students in our educational system they have to have some faith that all those courses are meant to build a foundation by which they can understand even more complex principles and utilize that knowledge and wish someone had told me that but I make a point to tell my students. The message I would give people is just remember that it only takes a year or two of reading and thinking and learning to get to the cutting edge to get to the edge where you know as much as everybody in the world currently knows and after that point you're now contributing. Always strive for your dream job don't be modest and be aggressive be ambitious aspire to the highest level even though you might want to say oh reality might not allow me to do this or that but the whole idea is to dream big dream higher than you ever thought you could and if you didn't set that higher bar for yourself you could motivate yourself to get there. One of my favorite quotes is from Louis Pasteur who of course said it in French that chance favors the prepared mind this is very important I think in science and probably in all walks of life because everyone has a certain amount of random good luck that happens to them and you have to be ready with that prior notice capitalize on it. You may have a chance if you're looking for a job you may have a chance and counter with the potential future boss and if he or she mentions some topic if if you say oh yes I just read a paper on that or you're able to comment intelligently on it you're going to land on your feet. Try to find something that you like enjoy what you do let it show and never give up because things are not always easy and I think it is extremely important to you know you make to trust yourself you make it follow what you decided to do and don't give up on the first or second or seventh obstacle I mean you need to you need to just pursue your dream until until it becomes reality and this is what very often happens. I think this is an amazing time in science and engineering and if you have any passion for science and engineering you know jump in because the tools the opportunities to learn the scales you can look at the you know from the the angstrom level all the way up to the macroscopic level I fully believe in the next five to ten years we're going to transform the pharmaceutical industry based on tissue engineering and the approaches we're taking there I truly believe in the next 10 to 20 years we'll be able to regenerate a human limb that we can't understand today because of the same kinds of tools and I think we're going to transform medicine and I think now's the time to get involved because the opportunities are just boundless.