Career opportunities with purpose

Legendary engineer, inventor, and businessman Dean Kamen recently visited the Tufts campus to speak with students about opportunities at his company DEKA, a research and development company located in Manchester, New Hampshire. School of Engineering graduate students from a range of programs filled the Lantern Room in Joyce Cummings Center to listen and ask questions.

To open, Kamen shared just a few of DEKA’s numerous inspirational projects. One such project, Daisy, is a microneedle patch that delivers vaccines through the skin. Daisy adheres like a band-aid and requires less medication than vaccines administered intramuscularly for the same results. Implementing Daisy on a wider scale would reduce the amount of plastic waste and hypodermic needles produced for traditional syringes. The single-crystal silica patch is currently in clinical trials and holds promise for effective, nearly painless vaccine delivery.

Kamen also discussed DEKA’s water filtration technology, which provides clean water access around the world and is integrated into DEKA's at-home dialysis machines. DEKA is using similar technology to address IV fluid shortages across the US with a machine that can produce sterile IV fluid on demand. Regular access to IV fluid would ease hospital shortages and units could be installed quickly to provide relief during disasters.

As DEKA continues to innovate for a better future, Kamen welcomed the Tufts engineering students in attendance to join his mission. He reiterated that nearly every type of engineer, including biomedical engineers, computer scientists, chemical and biological engineers, human factors engineers, and more are needed to make projects like these a reality.

From his early days tinkering in his parent’s basement as a high school student, Kamen has dedicated himself to solving the world’s greatest problems. In January this year, Kamen’s first patent turned 50 years old. He now holds over 1,000 patents and has made an immeasurable impact on people’s lives. Kamen continues to innovate and inspire the next generation of problem-solvers through initiatives such as the FIRST robotics competition.  

Following the lunch with students, Kamen delivered the closing keynote lecture at the second Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Evolution conference. Hosted by the IEEE Senior Members, the conference brought together leading technology professionals to explore emerging technologies and how these new technologies impact seniors in the population.

Previously, Kamen visited Tufts for the School of Engineering’s 6th Dean’s Lecture, where he outlined his philosophy in a lecture titled, “First, Find a Big Problem, Then Solve It”. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1997, awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize in 2002, and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in May 2005. Kamen was awarded the National Medal of Technology in 2000 by President Clinton, in recognition of inventions that have advanced medical care worldwide, and for his innovative and imaginative leadership advancing science and technology. 

Learn more about careers at DEKA.