Change Agents
Change Agents
Academy of Achievement
Dean Kamen
18 minutes Posted Jun 2, 2005 at 1:00 pm.
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18:19
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Show notes
Dean Kamen is an inventor, an entrepreneur, and a
tireless advocate for science and technology. His most famous
invention may be the Segway powered scooter, but he holds more
than 440 U.S. and foreign patents, many of them for innovative
medical devices that have expanded the frontiers of health care
worldwide. While still an undergraduate, he invented the first
wearable infusion pump, a device now in use for chemotherapy and
for treating diabetes. More recently, he created the Independence
I-Bot, designed to give greater mobility to the disabled. He is
the founder of DEKA Research and Development Corp., and of FIRST
(For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an
organization dedicated to motivating the next generation of
inventors and technology entrepreneurs. In this podcast, recorded
at the Academy of Achievement's 2005 Summit in New York City,
Dean Kamen points out that 80 percent of human disease is caused
by water-borne pathogens. He presents his plan for a compact,
portable water-purification system, which can provide clean
drinking water in parts of the world where clean water is the
scarcest and most precious of natural resources.