Dean Kamen
From FIRSTwiki
Dean Kamen is an American inventor and founder of FIRST.
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 stabilisation and control system that keep the Segway balanced on two side-by-side 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 1999.
In 1992, Mr. Kamen founded FIRST. Mr. Kamen remains the driving force behind the competition providing over 900 high schools with the tools needed to learn valuable engineering skills.
Mr. Kamen was already a successful and wealthy inventor, after inventing a new type of blood pumping and filtering system for medical applications, as well as an all-terrain electric wheelchair using many of the same gyroscopic balancing technologies that later made their way into the Segway.
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 .
Kamen owns the small North Dumpling Island off the coast of Connecticut , and has "declared" the island to be an independent state.
Notable quotations
- We're moving to the metric system inch-by-inch (paraphrase) -- 2002 kickoff, when asked why the rules weren't in metric, like the rest of the world.
Related (literally!) Links
External Links
This page has been imported from Wikipedia. Because Wikipedia is rather vague on copyrights, this article is very likely to change beyond recognition, and no one is likely to complain if FIRSTwiki doesn't properly credit it, this warning may be unnecessary. If its necessary, let's make a msg:.
