Post by Christopher Behnert-Smirnov

2025 was a bit of a whirlwind - First-Class Honours in Medical Engineering (UCL) - Founded a med-tech start-up - Competed in Imperial’s Venture Catalyst Challenge (VCC) - Grew from solo founder → a team of 17 Imperial student volunteers The funny part: this all started because I thought I needed a Stanford MBA. Back in 2022, I was unhappy with what I was studying and not sure where I was heading. So I moved into Medical Engineering because I loved the problem-solving… and then realised I loved something even more: building teams and leading projects that genuinely help people. I originally framed it as: Medical Robotics MSc (build) + MBA (lead) = dream career. But once I started building the company, everything changed. Through UCL Explore and Imperial VCC, I learned more about product, customers, and execution than I expected in 6 months. And I realised I didn’t want to “wait” to do meaningful work later, I wanted to do it now. Today, we’re a 17 person team building to return nurses’ time back to patient care, and our first full-size prototype is on track for pilot in the summer. What 2025 taught me: momentum beats perfect plans. If you stay curious, keep moving, and stay open to change, the path gets clearer as you go. If you work in hospital ops / logistics (or you’re a student who wants to help), I’d love to connect.