Dr. Tommy Vaughan is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology at Columbia and one of the world’s great leaders in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). He discusses his meandering path during his early years, from a love of gardening, to wanting to be an astronaut, to building his own rollerblades, to bicycling around the world, and eventually to imaging; how MRIs actually work for understanding what’s going on within our bodies, and how they can be used for both research and clinical diagnostics; how he has recently been focusing on taking some of the world’s most expensive and specialized pieces of equipment and making them cheaper, smaller, and more rugged, so that the remaining 70% of the world can finally have access to MRIs; and his advice for undergrads who may not yet have discovered their life’s calling.