He has been called one of the most prolific inventors of our time, and worldwide, New Hampshire’s Dean Kamen is known as “the Segway guy,” but he considers that to be one of the least significant inventions of his career.Kamen became a household name on Dec. 3, 2001, when the Segway was announced. But ask him today about the personal transportation device, and his opinion might be surprising.”I would argue that although I’m still to this day known as the Segway guy, compared to all the stuff I have done, I would say Segway is a footnote and the least significant project we ever did,” Kamen said.>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <> IN THE PLAYER BELOW: Kamen talks about his first invention created in his parent’s basement, how idea for Segway grew out of different medical productIn the early ’90s, he created the first portable dialysis machine for people living with chronic kidney disease. A few years after that, DEKA unveiled the revolutionary all-terrain electric wheelchair called the iBOT, and later, DEKA partnered with Coca-Cola on a water purification system to help rural communities around the world. With more than 400 patents, the college dropout turned multimillionaire inventor said that each one of his successes represents 10 years of failure.”Mostly what I do is fail,” he said. “When you’re trying to do new and different things, the world only sees the successes, so they think, ‘This guy is very lucky or very smart.’ They don’t realize that each one of those is after you found 10 or 20 or 50 ways to fail along the way.”Today, the 72-year-old is focused on what he calls the world’s next biggest industry — regenerative medicine.”Not since the invention of antibiotics or vaccines has there been as big an opportunity in the world of medicine,” Kamen said.With the help of an $80 million grant from the Department of Defense, Kamen launched in 2017 the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, or ARMI. It will soon take over more than 100,000 square feet in Manchester’s Millyard, where Kamen and his partners are growing cells, tissue and bones, and even manufacturing replacement human organs.”ARMI is about to create the alternative to almost every condition you can imagine, he said. “Were there’s a chronic treatment, we are trying to create a cure.”Kamen is determined to build what he calls Regen Valley in the Queen City, saying it will be similar to what Silicon Valley is to California.
He has been called one of the most prolific inventors of our time, and worldwide, New Hampshire’s Dean Kamen is known as “the Segway guy,” but he considers that to be one of the least significant inventions of his career.
Kamen became a household name on Dec. 3, 2001, when the Segway was announced. But ask him today about the personal transportation device, and his opinion might be surprising.
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“I would argue that although I’m still to this day known as the Segway guy, compared to all the stuff I have done, I would say Segway is a footnote and the least significant project we ever did,” Kamen said.
>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <<
Some of those projects date back to when Kamen was a child. As a student, he was more interested in creating than going to class.
“The first practical insulin pumps that went on humans I built in my parents’ basement with little motors and gearboxes that pushes a little syringe,” he said.
Too busy tinkering, he said, to graduate college, Kamen spent all his time building the first wearable insulin pump that changed the lives of those living with diabetes.
“It created a way to give kids with diabetes a nice continuous amount of insulin throughout the day, much more natural than a shot or two,” he said.
In the 1970s, Kamen moved from Long Island to New Hampshire, sold the AutoSyringe company and started DEKA Research.
Around that same time, Kamen launched what he considers his greatest endeavor when he founded the nonprofit company FIRST to get students excited about technology and robotics, helping them realize that a career in STEM could change the world.
“Life is short,” Kamen said. “Don’t waste any of it doing things that don’t matter. Improving people’s quality of life has always been Kamen’s mission.”
>> IN THE PLAYER BELOW: Kamen talks about his first invention created in his parent’s basement, how idea for Segway grew out of different medical product
In the early ’90s, he created the first portable dialysis machine for people living with chronic kidney disease. A few years after that, DEKA unveiled the revolutionary all-terrain electric wheelchair called the iBOT, and later, DEKA partnered with Coca-Cola on a water purification system to help rural communities around the world.
With more than 400 patents, the college dropout turned multimillionaire inventor said that each one of his successes represents 10 years of failure.
“Mostly what I do is fail,” he said. “When you’re trying to do new and different things, the world only sees the successes, so they think, ‘This guy is very lucky or very smart.’ They don’t realize that each one of those is after you found 10 or 20 or 50 ways to fail along the way.”
Today, the 72-year-old is focused on what he calls the world’s next biggest industry — regenerative medicine.
“Not since the invention of antibiotics or vaccines has there been as big an opportunity in the world of medicine,” Kamen said.
With the help of an $80 million grant from the Department of Defense, Kamen launched in 2017 the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, or ARMI. It will soon take over more than 100,000 square feet in Manchester’s Millyard, where Kamen and his partners are growing cells, tissue and bones, and even manufacturing replacement human organs.
“ARMI is about to create the alternative to almost every condition you can imagine,
he said. “Were there’s a chronic treatment, we are trying to create a cure.”
Kamen is determined to build what he calls Regen Valley in the Queen City, saying it will be similar to what Silicon Valley is to California.