Inventor Dean Kamen Shares Robotics Vision with Derryfield Students
Dean Kamen, a self-described “inventor, entrepreneur, and tireless advocate for science and technology,” visited the Derryfield School on February 17. The event was funded by the Isakovich-Critz Community Enrichment Initiative, the purpose of which is to bring distinguished lecturers, scholars, scientists, mathematicians, writers, and performers to Derryfield for school community meetings and classroom visits. Since September, the initiative has supported numerous campus events, including author Joshua Davis (Spare Parts), a panel of immigration experts, and Gerald Senehi, “The Experimentalist,” who took the stage during Head’s Holiday to “to consider new ideas and new solutions.”
Head of School Andy Chappell opened the Community Meeting program with an explanation of what spurred Kamen to found FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). The goal of the FIRST robotics organization is to motivate the next generation to become science and technology leaders. Founded in 1989, FIRST robotics programs have served more than 3.2 million young people, ages 4 to 18, in more than 100 countries around the globe, including Derryfield’s robotics teams. Chappell updated the audience,
“This past Saturday, our very own Binary Bots competed in the NH State Championship, and the atmosphere was everything Mr. Kamen would have wanted: joy, spirit, energy, competition, cooperation, and ingenuity were all on display. As Mr. Kamen likes to say, it felt like the Super Bowl of robotics.”
Next Chappell introduced middle school science teacher Jason Barreto, who was tapped to interview Kamen. Barreto’s opening question, “What was your experience as a student?” led Kamen into an extended musing on the topic of education. He started by acknowledging he “couldn’t stand sitting in a classroom.” Instead, he would think about things that weren’t in the textbook–the questions that weren’t being asked–noting “that always got me into trouble.” The student audience greatly enjoyed Kamen’s honest reply. He then went on to explain how he instead chose to delve more deeply into topics on his own–starting with the writings of Isaac Newton, and progressing to Galileo and Euclid–moving far beyond the abbreviated information being presented to him in school.
Kamen offered his opinion that “Education needs to be way more compelling, attractive, and inspiring, because ultimately if you are not willing to develop that muscle hanging between your ears, you’re never going to get very smart. You don’t get good at sports by watching or taking quizzes, you do it hour after hour after hour to get better. And schools around the world need to understand their job is to inspire kids to do that.”
Student interviewers, Avi Ullal ’25 and Helen Saunders ’26, then jumped in for a “lightning round,” prodding Kamen to come up with a series of quick answers to questions scientific, “Segway, on-road or off-road?” (if you go off-road, be very careful), personal, “Are you a morning person or a night owl?” (I’m a night owl), and entertaining, “Who would be your dream dinner guest, living or dead?” (Archimedes or Galileo or Walt Disney).
Kamen concluded his presentation by playing a video that illustrated how FIRST robotics competitions have risen to the highest level–equivalent in level of excellence to the Olympics. In September 2024, the FIRST Global Challenge took place in Athens, Greece. High school students from over 190 countries marched into the stadium, wearing traditional attire, and exuberantly waving the flags of their countries.
Following the school-wide presentation, Kamen was interviewed by members of the Derryfield robotics team, toured the robotics lab, and attended a class taught by Tom Eng, STEAM teacher, and co-coach of the robotics team.
