Brewtown Politico

Carrying a little stick and speaking loudly in Milwaukee

2.21.2006

Intriguing

Personally, I think the Segway was overrated as an invention since I don't think people walk enough as it is. However, Dean Kamen has something else in mind for his next invention.

"Dean Kamen, the engineer who invented the Segway, is puzzling over a new equation these days. An estimated 1.1 billion people in the world don't have access to clean drinking water, and an estimated 1.6 billion don't have electricity. Those figures add up to a big problem for the world—and an equally big opportunity for entrepreneurs.

To solve the problem, he's invented two devices, each about the size of a washing machine that can provide much-needed power and clean water in rural villages.

'Eighty percent of all the diseases you could name would be wiped out if you just gave people clean water,' says Kamen. 'The water purifier makes 1,000 liters of clean water a day, and we don't care what goes into it. And the power generator makes a kilowatt off of anything that burns.'"

1 Comments:

At 2/22/2006 07:31:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I heard about this a few years ago.

Wouldn't it be nice if Briggs $ Stratton, horribly mismanaged company that it is, developed Sterling Enigines for these purposes. They've been slipping as the world's leading manufacturer of air-colled engines for a while and definitely need to make some grounds in equatorial regions. Slap a big B&S on the sides of those things drop them in.

 

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