LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS

Not many humans have been called a superhero, but Dean Kamen has. And no wonder.

Though he’s best known as the inventor of the Segway, his work, and his company’s, extends far beyond that, much of it focused on how to use science and technology to help the world’s most vulnerable people.

That’s especially so now that we’re in the midst of the worst pandemic in a century. As other companies have been shutting down, Kamen’s company, DEKA Research & Development, with 800 mostly technical employees, has gone into overdrive to do all it can to help. Projects that were in the works are being accelerated and new ones are being created. “We’re doing this because we can’t not do it,” he says. “And it’s needed, and we don’t know any other way to get it done, so we’re doing it.”

One of the projects is engineering and building tools for people who are making vaccines. Another is a dialysis machine that can be used at home. “Now people who are already fragile now have to go to a center where they’ll be in close quarters and maybe get exposed to the virus,” Kamen says.

Another project — antiviral materials that can be put onto or into masks and gowns. “What if you could spray something on surfaces that will stay on those surfaces that is nontoxic to you, but any virus that touches that surface is going to have a really bad day,” Kamen says.

Yet another, a water purifier to deliver the sterile water needed to make IV solutions, something that’s likely to be in short supply in coming days. “They would distributed to pharmacies around the country that could make the IV bags of water that will be desperately needed in hospitals,” he says. “We’ve gotten massive support from HHS to help us do that.”

Some of the Kamen-inspired FIRST groups of young people have taken a cue from his efforts to help humanity, among them a group in Israel that designed and built a small ventilator. They’re now in the process of putting plans in an open-source file for others to use.

Also at work is the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, a nonprofit in the Manchester Millyard that was launched by Kamen to engineer the production of human organs. Of late, the Institute has been tasked with creating portable devices that allow medicines to be made onsite, especially important in difficult-to-reach areas. It’s another project done in partnership with HHS.

Add to all that, Kamen recently spearheaded an effort to get masks, face shields and coveralls for New Hampshire’s healthcare workers, who were facing dire shortages. Tons of it were procured, all atcost. “I would feel guilty if I made a penny on this,” he says.

Kamen gets high praise from those he worked with to make it happen. Gov. Chris Sununu says Kamen “worked tirelessly to make it a reality.” Ditto Sen. Jeanne Shaheen: “Thanks to Dean Kamen’s leadership, we are all a little safer today.”

How does Kamen do all he does? Two part-time jobs, he says. “I work half a day at my day job, that’s 12 hours, and half a day on all the other stuff. That’s the other 12 hours.”