Segway Inventor Dean Kamen Discusses ‘Inspiring Design’ at Build Boston Keynote
Dean Kamen, founder of DEKA Research and Development, is a self-taught physicist and highly successful entrepreneur. I had the privilege to hear Kamen present a key note speech entitled Inspiring Design at a recent Build Boston event. Over the course of his hour and a half presentation, Kamen regaled the audience with stories about several of his inventions, including a prosthesis inspired by the one Luke Skywalker wears in Star Wars and a water purification system that Kamen says would "wipe out 50% of human disease."
But what struck me most was Kamen's commitment to bettering humanity through scientific design and innovation. One of his projects is a nonprofit organization called U.S. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). Kamen launched the organization several years ago after realizing that many American teenagers couldn't name a single living scientist. "Our culture celebrates one thing: sports heroes," he says. "You have teenagers thinking they're going to make millions as NBA stars when that's not realistic for even 1 percent of them. Becoming a scientist or an engineer is." The organization's goal is to get people to value scientists the way they now value athletes. It's great to see someone like Kamen using his talents to improve society. I completely agree with his desire to improve lives, especially through design.
