Maverick Engineering Social Media

College of Engineering Speaker Series

Dean Kamen – September 2

September 2, 7 p.m.
Lone Star Auditorium, Maverick Activities Center
550 W. Nedderman Drive

Dean Kamen – inventor, entrepreneur, tireless advocate for science and technology. His passion for technology and its practical uses has driven his personal determination to spread the word about technology’s virtues and by doing so change the culture of the United States.

Kamen will speak to the general public in Lone Star Auditorium on Wednesday, September 2. His appearance is one of the initial events in the year-long celebration recognizing the 50th anniversary of the College of Engineering.

Dean Kamen 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 a college undergraduate, he invented the first wearable infusion pump, which rapidly gained acceptance in diverse medical specialties such as chemotherapy, neonatology and endocrinology. In 1976, he founded his first medical device company, AutoSyringe, Inc., to manufacture and market the pumps. By age 30, he had added a number of other infusion devices, including the first insulin pump for diabetics.

Following the sale of AutoSyringe to Baxter International, he founded DEKA Research & Development Corporation to develop internally-generated inventions and provide R&D services for major corporate clients. Some of DEKA’s products include the iBOT, a powered wheelchair capable of climbing stairs and “standing” to put occupants at eye level with people around them, the Segway personal transportation device, and Luke, a robotic arm restoring functionality for individuals with upper extremity amputations.

In addition to DEKA, one of Kamen’s proudest accomplishments is the founding in 1989 of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization dedicated to motivating the next generation to understand, use and enjoy science and technology. FIRST creates and coordinates robotics competitions across the nation, currently attracting more than 150,000 participants. The College of Engineering hosts the Southwest Regional Competitions of the FIRST Tech Challenge for high school students.

In 2000, President Clinton awarded Kamen the National Medal of Technology in recognition of his inventions and for innovative and imaginative leadership in awakening America to the excitement of science and technology. He was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize in 2002 and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in May 2005.