Dean Kamen
Founder / Inventor
DEKA Research
Manchester, NH USA
“It takes as much passion to succeed at something unimportant as something important.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationDean Kamen
Milestones
My road in life has been direct.
Says he was a poor student in college; took multiple choice tests and thought, there can't only be four answers to these problems.
He and his brother-a pediatric cancer researcher-developed a pump that could administer small amounts of medicine to children.
A doctor at Yale realized that the pump could be used to administer insulin to diabetics-started developing these pumps for different uses.
Built most of the outpatient dialysis equipment used today.
Tried to develop a way to purify water to the U.S. Pharmacopeia's standard for injection; failed, spent millions, but developed a powerful purifier.
Says that the greatest advantage that roadtrippers have over the successful people they've visited is time.
Before each project, he estimates how much time it would take to develop; if the tradeoff between success and time sunk isn't worth it, he doesn't do it.
Says in the end, it probably won't matter which of the right paths you take; there are many and they're all important in different ways.
Education
High School
Bachelor
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Career
Founder / Inventor
I'm an inventor creating new medical devices, water purifiers, and energy technologies to help people around the world.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Science
Technology
Helping People
Interviewed By
Manchester - Boston
En route to Manchester, New Hampshire, the Roadtrip Nation team sits down with Dean Kamen, an inventor and founder of DEKA Research and Development. Next it's off to Boston to interview Bert and John Jacobs, founders of the clothing company Life is Good. In Boston they interview Dave McGillivray, a Boston Marathon runner who, in 1978, ran across the entire United States.
