Dean Kamen Uses Robots to Push Knowledge As Best Investment
Dean Kamen, founder of DEKA Research & Development Corp. and inventor of the Segway personal transporter went head to head in a robot battle with Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, at the FIRST Robotics Championships in St. Louis. Kamen started the organization For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) in 1989 to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.
He hopes that by having hundreds of teams build robots, students will become interested enough in science and technology to consider pursuing a career in them.
Will.i.am became involved in FIRST this year, showing his love of technology and science. His mother Debra Abrams told Popular Mechanics that as a child the singer loved to take apart his transformers.
Kamen talks about U.S. spending on education and technology and says the greatest job growth plan is to invest in knowlege. He speaks with Carol Massar on Bloomberg Television’s Street Smart.
“Just as sports and entertainment have given young people no shortage of idols and role models, FIRST uses mentors and engineering professionals to show students the endless possibilities that exist when they exercise the most powerful muscle of all — the one between their ears.” — Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST
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