Builders of Science Award
WASHINGTON-March 8, 2011-Inventor and physicist Dean Kamen will receive Research!America's 2011 Builders of Science Award. The award recognizes his leadership in founding DEKA Research & Development Corporation and AutoSyringe, Inc., building both into renowned models of private-sector innovation, as well as his substantial achievements in raising public awareness and inspiring interest in research and technology, particularly among students through FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).
Kamen will be honored March 15, 2011, at the 15th Annual Research!America Advocacy Awards event at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC.
While a college undergraduate, Kamen invented an automatic, self-contained ambulatory pump that delivers precise doses of medication to patients with a variety of medical conditions. In 1976 he founded AutoSyringe, Inc., to manufacture and market the pumps. At age 30 he sold AutoSyringe and founded DEKA Research & Development Corporation to develop internally generated inventions, as well as to provide research and development for clients.
He remains the guiding force behind research at DEKA, pushing his 300 or so engineers to apply research creatively for commercial and philanthropic projects. He and his team have invented and developed such advanced medical devices as the HomeChoiceTM portable dialysis machine for Baxter, improved slide preparation for the ThinPrep® Pap Test for Hologic, the HydroflexTM surgical irrigation pump for C.R. Bard, and a revolutionary robotic arm for those with upper-extremity amputations. He is also the inventor of the SegwayTM Human Transporter.
Among Kamen's accomplishments is founding FIRST, a non-profit organization dedicated to motivating the next generation to understand, use and enjoy science and technology. Its flagship program, the FIRST Robotics Competition, teams professionals and high school students to design and build robots. The organization also offers programs for younger students and is regarded as one of the most successful after-school programs for inspiring young adults to become science and technology leaders.
Kamen has raised awareness about the importance of research funding and science education through hundreds of lectures to academic and business audiences. He holds hundreds of patents, many for innovative medical devices. He has received numerous honorary degrees and awards, including the National Medal of Technology and the United Nations 2006 Global Humanitarian Action Award. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005.
The Builders of Science Award, supported by an anonymous benefactor, honors an individual's achievements in building an outstanding scientific institution.
Other 2011 Research!America Advocacy Award winners are Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC); New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; acclaimed broadcast journalist Charlie Rose; U.S. Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) and Nobel laureate J. Michael Bishop, MD.
Pictures of Kamen and the Advocacy Awards event will be available on March 16 at: http://www.researchamerica.org/march15.
Research!America is the nation's largest nonprofit public education and advocacy alliance working to make research to improve health a higher national priority. The 2011 Advocacy Awards represent Research!America's 15th year of recognizing the accomplishments of leading advocates for medical and health research. For more information, visit www.researchamerica.org/advocacy_awards.