The cafe is full of people. Prams are crowded with freshly baked buns and the sound volume is high. On the other hand, things are calm around Jesper. The voice is centred, the focus warm and calm. A dog lies relaxed next to it. It looks up at its master every now and then and gets a confirming glance back.
How come you do what you do?
-I have always been technology and research-oriented. And already knew at the age of seven that I would become a researcher. When everyone else wanted to be a fireman, I thought science seemed like the closest thing to magic you could get. There were so many exciting things in the world that I wanted to understand... For example, I remember as a six-year-old leafing through my mother's old physics book. To me, it looked like a magic book with all its mathematical formulas. It became clear that you could somehow understand how the world worked through those frills... And that's what I wanted to do, at some point in my life.
He also describes a worried little boy, one who followed the news about the growing hole in the ozone layer and wondered if the world was going to burn up.
-I thought about and wondered about a lot. And maybe there is a connection to the research interest there... If you are worried enough, you want to understand. But in the end, my biggest driving force probably lies in curiosity. In junior high school, for example, I always stayed a quarter of an hour after each NO lesson and asked all the questions I had collected during the week...
A committed teacher met an enthusiastic student. And the high school years continued in the same spirit. In 2007, he reached Linköping University for studies in technical physics, and eventually earned his doctorate with the thesis "Flexible and Cellulose-based Electronics".
You are now a researcher and scientific leader for the Digital Cellulose Center, employed at RISE. Was your career always spot on?
-During high school, I thought I would become a doctor because I was also interested in medicine. But it felt too psychologically heavy, and maybe - completely crass - even like a lot of blood... On the other hand, I knew that I wanted to help people. So the focus ended up being more on research in biomedicine.
What did you see in front of you?
-There was a dream about something you could wear on your body or other medical applications. It is very exciting with digital medicine, where you can work preventively by succeeding in seeing trends to prevent, for example, heart attacks or blood clots. Often you get a problem and go to the doctor as a result. Then it is better to prevent the problem. Only with the help of a Smart Watch can one read parameters that may indicate that there is a risk of something within the course of five years or so... Such methods are often used in the USA but are rarer in Sweden so far.
What are your dreams for the future?
-One is to continue working in the lab. If you let it go, I think it's hard to come back. I remember in the beginning when I was doing research, how depressed I was. It didn't go at all as I had expected. In fact, it took several years to understand how much patience one needs to have as a researcher. And that mindset, I think you lose quite quickly if you leave the lab, that fingertip feeling and understanding of how long things can really take. I'm definitely a better project manager if I keep one foot in the lab.
What is going on in your life in general right now?
Right now I am preparing for a hike on the Kungsleden. My family was always outdoors when I was little. There is something very special about that. And that was also a big reason why we got this guy…
He looks down at the dog.
-It's so much fun to watch him dart around. So I like martial arts too, and skiing. Yes, solo sports in general. Preferably extreme variants. And most of all I like hiking in the forest. It's just a lot of moss and you can't see anything. Not even the forest itself sometimes, for all the trees.
A bit like doing research in the lab, we note with a smile. And time flies. It's time to
end the interview, but just as he is about to stand up, he stops.
-Speaking of dreams, I would like Norrköping to become a Mini-Silicon Valley for printed electronics!
Then he smiles, waves hello and disappears with the dog up Västgötebacken's lunch detention area.
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