The Wide Angle: Dean Kamen's Top 5 Fav InnovatorsBy Alyssa Danigelis
Dean Kamen Dean Kamen invented the Segway, an electric, self-balancing human transporter; the AutoSyringe, a mobile dialysis system; and an all-terrain electric wheelchair known as the iBOT.
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Denim-clad inventor Dean Kamen doesn't want to talk about invention. He wants to talk about innovation. What's the difference? To start, inventions are pretty common. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is bursting with patents, and they don't even represent every invention that bubbles up. "For me, invention -- making a gizmo -- it's always [about] the fun and the challenge and the pure creativity," Kamen says. The entrepreneurial engineer might be best known for inventing the Segway, but his resume also includes a portable medical infusion device, a prosthetic arm, a vascular stent, and a motorized climbing wheelchair called the iBOT. The Segway, which has brought him fame and criticism, demonstrates that creating and selling new technology is only the beginning. "If somebody can raise the bar so high by delivering something that just seems so worth it to people to give up what they were doing to do something else, that's an innovation," Kamen says. "Those are pretty rare." Kamen says he considers himself more of a physicist than an engineer. With equations and theories at the ready, he describes his choices for five scientists who helped humanity make giant leaps, paving the way for future inventors: |
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GET MORE OF THE WIDE ANGLE!Necessity is the Mother of invention, but people get their inspiration from other places, too. This week on Discovery Tech, in conjuction with Discovery Channel's latest TV show Doing da Vinci -- we'll be looking at the people and the places that turn inspiration into innovation. Explore this week's Wide Angle: Invention Engines. Download the Tech Widget
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