Dean Kamen at BIF-2

Dean Kamen didn't know what he wanted to be when he grew up, but he knew very early on what he didn't want to do: Work for someone else. He abhorred school and chafed at convention.

"I don't like people telling me what to do," he says. So, he figured, "assuming I could solve problems that people wanted solved, I ought to be able to make money doing that, which should ensure my freedom and independence."

Now 55, Kamen, an inventor who has been honored with numerous awards, including the National Medal of Technology from President Clinton, has indeed ensured his independence. Though he never finished college, his inventions have made Kamen a very successful man, with two helicopters, an airplane, an enormous hexagonal residence that he designed himself, and a private island off the Connecticut coast.

Described as equal parts Willy Wonka and Thomas Edison, Kamen remains as focused as ever on trying to solve problems—and the more his solutions contribute to mankind's progress, the better.

One of Kamen's first inventions was the AutoSyringe, an automatic, wearable infusion pump which gained acceptance from such diverse medical specialties as chemotherapy, neonatology and endocrinology. He also created a number of other infusion devices, including the first insulin pump for diabetics. A subsequent invention, a portable dialysis machine, was similarly revolutionary.

So, too, was the Independence® iBOT® 4000 Mobility System, a project developed for Johnson & Johnson, that Kamen says is less a high-tech wheelchair than a robot with a seat. The battery-powered chair keeps its balance using gyroscopes and microprocessors, can go up stairs or curbs, handle virtually any surface and raise its occupant off the ground so he or she can have conversations at eye level with those standing on two feet—or reach the top shelf of a grocery aisle.

"What must it be like for people who have lost their legs to again face the world standing up?" one tech guru enthused.

The iBOT's balancing mechanism gave Kamen the idea for another big project—the Segway® HT, or Human Transporter. The machine is a kind of souped-up scooter that advances, retreats and turns based on subtle body inflections. Though the Segway hasn't yet made walking obsolete, Kamen imagines a future where these devices replace cars in crowded city centers. Today, Kamen's work includes the development of a power generating Stirling engine and a water purification system—two essential life-enabling devices for developing countries.

Kamen leads a staff of about 200 engineers at DEKA Research & Development Corp., the laboratory he founded on the banks of New Hampshire's Merrimack River. But his real disciples may be the children in some 7,000 high schools and middle schools who take part in annual robotics competitions sponsored by an organization Kamen founded— FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. One day, he hopes, scientists will be as recognized and valued in this country as athletes or rock stars.

"You have teenagers thinking they're going to make millions as NBA stars when that's not realistic for even 1 percent of them," he says. "Becoming a scientist or an engineer is."

Kamen's guiding philosophy? "Work on the big problems—the problems that matter," he says. "Most of the time you will fail, but you will also occasionally succeed. Those occasional successes make all the hard work and sacrifice worthwhile."

As for his own legacy, Kamen already has some thoughts about his epitaph.

"He left the world a better place than he found it," it could read. "He gave more than he took out—and he took out a lot."