Scooter Inventor Is Hailed

Dean Kamen, creator of the much-ballyhooed "Ginger" scooter, has been named the winner of the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT prize for inventors.

The award, given annually, was bestowed in recognition of Kamen's development of the self-balancing scooter and of an infusion pump that has allowed diabetics to lead more normal lives. Kamen, owner of DEKA Research & Development Corp. in Manchester, N.H., holds more than 150 patents.

"He is a true genius. His commitment to bettering the lives of people is intense and his inventions keep getting more remarkable, said former Baxter International chairman Vernon Loucks Jr., who nominated Kamen.

Kamen said he started inventing early.

"At 5 years old, I figured out a way to make my bed without having to run from one side of the bed to another," the 51-year-old Kamen said, describing a system of pulleys, blankets and strings. "It always seemed like such a big frustration."

Also being honored is 86-year-old Ruth Rogan Benerito, winner of the Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award. The retired Tulane Medical School professor and U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher helped introduce easy-care cotton after World War II, when wrinkle-proof synthetics were gaining prominence.

Benerito said she was shocked to receive the award.

"At my age, you think your career is over with," said Benerito, who was informed of the honor while playing pinochle. "I was very surprised."

The Lemelson-MIT Program was established in 1994 by inventor Jerome H. Lemelson and his wife, Dorothy. It is based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Previous recipients include artificial-intelligence pioneer Raymond Kurzweil and Douglas Englebart, who developed the computer mouse.

Kamen was an undergraduate at Worcester Polytechnic Institute when he responded to the repeated complaints of his brother, a doctor, by developing the infusion pump.

In 1999, Kamen developed a wheelchair that can climb stairs and stand upright on two wheels, using sensors, gyroscopes and computers to constantly adjust and balance itself.

The same technology supplied the underpinning for his Segway Human Transporter, which was unveiled with great fanfare — and some ridicule — in December.

Kamen said the scooter-like device, which is designed to be difficult to fall from or knock over, would "be to the car what the car was to the horse-and-buggy."