I come from an engineering family, so I grew up with a technical mindset. As my mother, Małgorzata Kujawińska, is a professor with great passion for photonics, she was my inspiration from the science side; from my father, I got business inspiration. The connection between those two worlds was the goal I had in mind all through my studies.

As an owner of a production company with a large budget and extensive reporting activities that sells 3D scanners worldwide, I have many duties. These range from day-to-day activities to establishing product-development strategies. I like the diversity of my tasks, as well as working with people who are passionate about 3D digitalization.

The fact that we at SMARTTECH3D have developed all our hardware and software in house and have wrapped it into a product that is successfully sold worldwide is the biggest reward for me. I am so proud of the team spirit of SMARTTECH3D, seeing that we can make the world better with our products, and that we are working in so many different applications around the world.

The biggest challenge for me is the time-sharing between my family and my career. I’ve learned that time is flexible, and that planning and choosing the right people to work with are key to helping you connect those two often-colliding worlds.

I wish that somebody would remind me to set my priorities well, and to be able to let go of the small things. After years of experience, I know that, overall, your small mistakes do not matter if you are heading in the right direction. I feel that listening to our intuition is what makes us women in optics more efficient and more satisfied with our work.

If you feel a career in STEM is your way, go for it. We definitely need more women here with positive energy and organizational skills.

Anna Gębarska
Managing Director, Owner, SMARTTECH3D
Born in Poland / Resides in Poland
Educational Background: MSc in Engineering, Faculty of Industrial and Mechanical Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Poland