Dean Kamen on CSPAN2 TV

[dhitchco]

Hi gang,
I was channel surfing last night (Monday 4/25) and came across a senate hearing chaired by Orrin Hatch of Utah. On the panel was Dean Kayman!

It was a discussion about patent protection and keeping some legal "teeth: into the patent protection process. He mentioned FIRST several times including a few minutes of discussing what took place in Atlanta.

He also was quizzed by Hatch about moving the nationals to Utah!

Did anyone record Dean's portion of this hearing? I know the complete 2 hours is available from the CSPAN store too.

[sanddrag]

I think you mean Dean Kamen

[KarenH]

He also was quizzed by Hatch about moving the nationals to Utah!
Utah--there's a strange thought! According to the FIRST website, there is only one Utah team, and no FIRST events in Utah. Thus there would be little local support for the Championship.

However, Utah would be centrally located to the western states. Depending on where in Utah the event is held, it might be just one day's drive for many of the western teams.

I guess the upshot is that Sen. Hatch thinks well of FIRST.

[Cyberguy34000]

Eh, if he's really serious about how much he likes FIRST he'd do his part to get a few more teams in the state before he should really consider asking FIRST nationals to move to Utah. Start off with a regional or something. Anyways I'd really like to see that CSPAN-2 broadcast as well. Problem is that very few people actually watch it :(

[wheeler]

Here is a link to the footage that I found I hope it works.
Dean Kamen's part starts at 1:44.00 I believe
CSPAN (rtsp://video.c-span.org/15days/e042505_patents.rm)

[MrToast]

Actually, I think moving the Nationals to Utah would be a great idea (besides the fact that I go to college at BYU ;))! The Delta center in SLC is a great arena, and UT can easily handle anything FIRST could throw at it logistics-wise... I mean, they did have the olympics there... they ought to be able to handle 400+ FIRST teams...

Woo I'm liking the sound of this! :D

Dave

[MrToast]

Is it just me, or did Dean say 3 teams in Utah??

Dave

[Greg Ross]

Is it just me, or did Dean say 3 teams in Utah??
That's what I heard. Are you saying there aren't three teams? Are there FLL or Vex teams?

[Joshua May]

That's what I heard. Are you saying there aren't three teams? Are there FLL or Vex teams?

I'm good friends with Team 1505 (Utah's only FRC Team) and they don't sponsor FLL or VEX Teams, so I know they wouldn't be giving those teams any support as of yet, so I'm not sure if they exist.

[Vin211]

I think you meant to write:


Dean Kamen.

[Pattie]

Hi! I'm on team #1505 and we are the only team in the state - yes only one team - no FLL yet, no Vex yet. We are working feverishly to get more teams involved - now that we have a robot to show at other school districts I think we will be successful. Dean Kamen made a comment at the Atlanta nationals to one of our mentors that it would be nice to see a regional event in Utah in 5 years. But nationals - WOW.

[dhitchco]

Sorry for mis-spelling Dean's name in my original note (duh!)

The link someone provided is a streaming Realmedia file. Did anybody actually record this congressional hearing on patents?