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Dean Kamen

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Dean Kamen on one of his inventions, the Segway Human Transporter.
President Clinton and Kamen in the White House, Kamen riding his innovative invention, the iBOT Mobility System.

Dean L. Kamen (born April 5, 1951 in Rockville Centre, New York) is an American entrepreneur and inventor. He attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute, but dropped out before graduating. His father is Jack Kamen, the well-known illustrator of Weird Science and other EC Comics.

Career

DEKA

Kamen founded DEKA Research & Development Corporation in 1982. With the success of his inventions, DEKA now employs about two hundred engineers, technicians and machinists who work in the firm's electronics and software engineering labs, machine shop, and on CAD stations. According to the company's website, DEKA's mission is "to foster innovation."

Inventions

Kamen is probably most well-known to the public from the publicity surrounding the product that eventually became known as the Segway HT—a kind of electric scooter with a complex, computer-controlled gyroscopic stabilization and control system that keeps the device balanced on two horizontally-placed wheels and controlled by moving body weight. The machine's secret development was the object of much speculation after segments of a book quoting Steve Jobs and other notable IT visionaries espousing its society-revolutionising potential were leaked in 2000.

Kamen has worked extensively on a project involving Stirling engine designs, attempting to create a machine that would generate power while serving as a water purification system. He hopes the project will help improve living standards in developing countries. [1]

Kamen has also invented a compressed air powered device which would launch a human into the air in order to quickly launch SWAT teams or other emergency workers to the roofs of tall, inaccessible buildings.[2]

However, Kamen was already a successful and wealthy inventor, after inventing a new type of mobile dialysis system for medical applications, as well as an all-terrain electric wheelchair known as the iBOT using many of the same gyroscopic balancing technologies that later made their way into the Segway.

An article states that Kamen holds that "walking is a remnant of the Dark Ages, an unpleasant time-waster that technology need eradicate" [3]; this point is often noted by critics of the Segway, who feel that walking is a natural human exercise that should be encouraged, not made obsolete, to offset declining health figures.

Awards

During his career Kamen has won numerous awards. In April 2002, Kamen was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize for inventors for his invention of the Segway and of an infusion pump for diabetics. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1997 for his biomedical devices and for making engineering more popular among high school students. In 2000, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology by US President Bill Clinton.

FIRST

In 1989, Kamen founded the robotics organization, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), for high-school students. In 2005 it held over thirty regional competitions and one national. Kamen remains the driving force behind the organization, providing over one thousand high schools with the tools needed to learn valuable engineering skills. FIRST has gained a great deal of publicity from companies such as CNN, General Motors, Google and Delphi.

North Dumpling Island

Dean Kamen's home on North Dumpling Island

Kamen owns the small North Dumpling Island off the coast of Connecticut, and has "declared" the island to be an independent state. As can be seen in the photograph to the right, what looks like an abstract version of Stonehenge is on the west side of the island. Its function or significance is not known. Also, a windmill can be seen in the right side of the picture, presumably to provide power, although it is often observed to be locked in a stationary position. Recently (Spring 2006), an amphibious vehicle, similar to a WWII DUKW, was observed parked next to one of the buildings on the island.

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