Dean Kamen

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.