Nikolai Begg

Why you should listen

Since Nikolai Begg first saw robotic surgery performed as a thirteen-year-old, he has been in love with building things to help others. Now as a PhD Candidate in mechanical engineering at MIT, Begg works on designs to improve any number of things in people's lives -- from salt and pepper shakers that always stay in the same position relative to one another to a non-invasive female urinary catheter. He's especially passionate about how he can apply physics and mechanical principles to medical devices. In 2013 he won the annual Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for Invention, for a product that makes more precise incisions during surgery.