Innovation culture

“Invest your energy in something that you really like!”

As an experienced professional in R&D, Femke de Theije shares helpful career advice for young professionals, such as how to find the right profession and the qualities it needs to innovate.

Carolin Gietl

Published on August 12, 2024

Developing a handheld device that can help determine if someone is having a heart attack in just eight minutes—instead of the hour it takes for conventional tests—is something of a life’s work for Femke de Theije. She did not achieve it alone but with a cross-functional team of chemists, biochemists, physicists, electrical engineers, industrial engineers, process developers, and software developers. However, the start of her career was very different from her work in R&D today.

De Theije studied dentistry for two years until she discovered her heart wasn’t fully in it. She switched to chemistry and found a passion in surface chemistry, where she ended up doing her PhD. “That’s fulfilling for me because, in the end, you really understand something. I like putting all those little pieces together to finish the puzzle,” she explains enthusiastically. With over two decades of experience in R&D, she still enjoys solving these puzzles and has some useful career tips to share with those just starting.

Portait picture of Femke de Theije smiling

Femke talking with a collague

Femke sitting at a table in the office kitchen together with four of her colleagues, chatting, taking a break

Femke sitting at a table, holding in her hands the handheld device for troponin testing that she developed together with her team

Femke sitting in the Lobby on a couch with her laptop typing and smiling

Femke standing in the office, talking to her colleague who's sitting at her desk. Other colleagues are working on their laptops in the back.

Femke in a video call with her colleague from the U.S., whose face is shown on the screen.

Portrait of Femke, leaning against the entry of her office, smiling at the camera

Portait picture of Femke de Theije smiling

The top traits for a career in R&D

“Being willing to collaborate!”—that’s the most important thing to bring for a successful career in R&D, says de Theije. “And don’t think you are the one that needs to provide all the answers or that you don't need anyone else.” Young professionals should also be patient enough to find solutions to problems. She shares that in R&D, you often don’t know where to begin with, but eventually you find your way how to solve these problems. “We have a very diverse group of people here, and we all look at the world differently. The best ideas come while chatting during lunch and not while working alone behind your desk.”

Her passion for her work has helped de Theije persevere despite her challenges throughout her career. Therefore, her most important advice is: “Follow your heart! If you don’t like what you do, you must very quickly start doing something else, because your work takes a lot of energy and so you should put that in something that you really like.”

Femke de Theije holding sitting at a desk, holding an open cartridge in her hands, smiling. In the foreground you see the handheld device, Atellica VTLi. In the back is a blue wall.

Heartfelt innovation for emergency care

How Femke de Theije and team came up with a handheld device that can help cut the time for heart attack diagnosis from one hour down to eight minutes.

By Carolin Gietl

Carolin Gietl is a digital editor trainee. She enjoys creating stories about innovation and careers at Siemens Healthineers.