My class in BENG 404 recently embarked on a 3-hour bus trip to New Hampshire to visit two biotech companies, DEKA and ARMI. It was a remarkable experience and gave us the opportunity to meet the company staff and Dean Kamen, a prolific inventor and the founder of First Robotics.

He is the real-life Iron Man of biotech and is definitely an inspiring figure that more people should know about. After selling and making millions off the AutoSyringe in his mid-20s, Dean Kamen came to New Hampshire with a vision to renovate the area and establish a new Carbon Valley, similar to the concept of Silicon Valley. My classmates and I were surprised by the sheer scale of his vision. Kamen thinks in terms of cities, not just companies, and wants to continue making an enormous impact on the medical industry.

The event was definitely a recruitment event, and we were treated to delicious food and presentations from the engineers and staff of DEKA and ARMI.

Innovation and Invention: A Distinction

Our class received presentations from a broad set of speakers working in law, mechanical engineering, computer science and artificial intelligence, and more. Some takeaways:

• The distinction between innovation and invention and the distinction between the two. There are some contraptions like an automated butt kicker and a toilet roll on a person’s head, each of which had multiple independent patents registered by different people, but are very obviously not useful. Innovation needs to solve a problem that someone would be willing to pay for and actually use.
• Failure is not necessarily bad, as was demonstrated by the pacemaker and Viagra both being accidents that turned into successful products
  • This reminds me of “The ultimate form of preparation is not planning for a specific scenario, but a mindset that can handle uncertainty.”
• The most damaging phrase in the language is “We’ve always done it this way.”.
• Furthermore, The killer for most innovation is trying to release it when it’s perfect. You should release early, talk to users, and iterate. Innovators don’t win due to creativity, but experimentation.

Student Presentations and Demonstrations

During the trip, some of the more senior students in our class made presentations to the DEKA team. Dean Kamen and staff made valuable contributions. I was particularly impressed by Kamen’s input on one presentation about 3D modeling tumors. He casually mentioned a colleague of his that was working at Novocure, but in doing so, demonstrated his technical knowledge and impressed everyone with his expertise.

DEKA’s location in 1800s renovated building was impressive, and rooms still used the original wooden floor from the 1800s. My classmates and I were surprised that it was still brick and not metal, given that there is more opportunity for bacteria to grow.

We were also able to see a demonstration of the Luke prosthetic arm and the iBot, one of DEKA’s inventions. The iBot is a wheelchair based on the Segway that allows users to climb stairs, go over curbs, and even stand at the height of an average person by balancing on the rear wheel legs. The amount of technology on display was insane. The product manager even allowed us to try yanking him off the iBot, and we were amazed at how quickly the device adapted and balanced him.

Overall, the trip was one of the most memorable and enlightening experiences I’ve had so far this year, maybe my Yale career. It’s a testament for why you should take BENG 404.

The Itinerary

Time	Agenda	Presenter	Location
5:45-6:00am	Meet in Front of 15 Prospect St.		15 Prospect St.
6:00am	Depart for Manchester, NH
9:30-10:00am	Arrivals and Light Breakfast		DEKA Auditorium
10:00-10:30am	Welcome and ARMI/DEKA Overview	Maureen Toohey	DEKA Auditorium
10:30-10:40am	Q&A		DEKA Auditorium
10:40-11:15am	Commercialization Presentation	Julie Lenzer	DEKA Auditorium
11:15-11:30am	Q&A		DEKA Auditorium
11:30am-12:00pm	Tour of the Original Tissue Factory	Tom Bollenbach or Ned Gordon	400 Commercial Street
12:00-12:30pm	Lunch and Possible Meet and Greet with Dean	All	DEKA Auditorium
12:30-1:00pm	Yale PMAE Student-Led Presentations	Ashley, Crystal, Derek, Eric, Alice, & Kendal	DEKA Auditorium
1:00-1:15pm	Transportation to 500 Commercial Street	MSM Team and Moderator
1:15-1:45pm	Rockwell Innovation Center	Wayne Charest & John Hatzis, Rockwell Automation	500 Commercial Street
1:45-1:50pm	Transition	All	500 Commercial Street
1:50-2:20pm	Advanced Solutions Life Sciences Tour	Jay Hoying, Chief Scientist	500 Commercial Street
2:20-2:30pm	Transition to 540 Commercial Street	All
2:30-3:30pm	Tour of 540 Commercial Street	Ned Gordon & PD Team	540 Commercial Street
3:30-3:45pm	Transition to DEKA	All
3:45-4:30pm	DEKA/Mobius Tour	Derek Kane, Jay Burkholder, & John Mannisto	340 Commercial Street
4:30pm	Depart for New Haven, CT
7:00pm	Arrive on Campus