Bart Kamen
 

Posted by Libby on her Facebook today. I'm too sad to say anything more.


"Last night, the world lost an incredible man. My superhero, my Daddyman. Bart Kamen, MD, PhD, incredible father and husband, passed away last night after 16 months of fighting cancer. I thank all of you that have been with me on this long, exhausting journey for all your love and support. I am home with my mom and will be for a while before heading back to Clarkson. If you would like information about our services or anything else, please send me a message. "

Re: Bart Kamen
 

My thoughts go out to the Kamen family for their loss. Losing a part of your family can be a very difficult time, and we are all here to support you. RIP Bart Kamen.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Bart was an awesome guy. I had the pleasure of meeting him several times at CMP. He would play his saxaphone for the judges and was also one of the Chairman's Award judges at CMP (probably one of THE most difficult judging positions in FIRST).

We will miss you Bart!

Re: Bart Kamen
 

One of the unwritten tenets of FIRST is family. Although FIRST is Dean's baby, he has shone the light on his mother, father, brother, niece, among others in a very public and gracious way.
Whether we realize it or not, we've all been touched by the works of Dr. Kamen - through his TED talks, through his research and scores of publications in pediatric oncology, or perhaps more directly through his daughter. What an incredible life, what an incredible legacy.
Thoughts with all the Kamen family.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Libby, her mother and the rest of the Kamen family. It was always a pleasure to talk with Bart. He will be missed.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

The NUTRONs send our condolences to the entire Kamen family. Bart was an amazing man.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Rest in peace to one of the best, most fair, and honest judges at FIRST events and one of the coolest people to talk to. Best wishes to the entire family.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

The Thunderhaws send our condolences to the Kamen family. Bart was a truly great man.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

What a devastating loss! My heart goes out to the Kamens.

Even though I have seen him judge at countless events over the years, I can only recall two conversations I ever personally had with Bart. The first was at the very first Regional event I ever attended...the 2002 Long Island Regional. Bart was a judge, of course. I was a pimply-faced, smart-mouthed, (sometimes troublemaking) junior in high school and really had no idea what I had gotten myself into. On Friday morning, Bart came to our pit and I was one of the students he approached - he was the first judge I ever spoke to. I didn't know much about robots, mechanisms, or programming then...but I had enthusiasm to spare! We talked about the robot a little bit, but Bart was a lot more interested in hearing about our team, which already felt like a family to me, and what we were getting out of the program. He asked about my future plans and I remember telling him I really had no idea, but that computer programming was something that interested me. He encouraged me to try my hand at it with the robot in the following season.

Our robot in 2002 was not very good, but we were awarded the Team Spirit award for our collective enthusiasm about our team and FIRST. I remember feeling ecstatic about the award - the first trophy I had won since Tee ball. In 2003, I became the team's lead programmer and we went to Einstein. I never looked back.

Flash forward a decade to 2012 at the Hatboro-Horsham District Event. Once again I crossed paths with Bart, being (re-)introduced by our regional director Donald Bowers. I told Bart about my past ten years...a master's degree, a job in robotics, and continued mentorship of my alma mater. Bart hung on every word and when I was done thanking him for the push in the right direction ten years prior, he gave me a firm hand shake and had a beaming smile across his face.

It will feel very strange not to see Bart at any competitions this year. But if there is a heaven, I'm pretty freaking sure that he will meet the entrance criteria.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Emphasis this. It was always a joy getting to talk with Bart as a judge. RIP

Re: Bart Kamen
 

One of my favorite moments in my FIRST career was sitting on the couch in the kitchen at Dean's house during the Founder's Reception, listening to Bart tell stories about Dean, and about the early days of FIRST. You will be missed...

Re: Bart Kamen
 

On behalf of team 191 the X-Cats we send our deepest sympathies to the Kamen family in this most difficult time.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Libby's Dad loved to do magic tricks. The ones he showed me were simple ones such as making a coin appear and disappear. He had this way of weaving stories of his life through his magic that he shared so readily and beautifully. I have always thought about the gifts that he gave of himself and shared with his young patients and their families. It has made me want to be a kinder and more gentle person because of it. He was tough where it counted and that toughness was girded by humor, delight in others, and inspiration.

Thinking of you and your family, Libby.

Jane

Re: Bart Kamen
 

The shock of the news of Bart's passing will, as we go into the new year, become a greater chasm as we miss him as a judge, and as the Kamen family misses him as a father, husband, son and brother. We need to use Bart's example as a judge to bring our efforts as judges to a higher plane, to continue to reward and inspire, as he has done for us.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

On behalf of Team 2410, BV CAPS Metal Mustang Robotics, we send our condolences to the Kamen family. It seems to be a tough year for STEM; losing so many of the best and brightest.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

I'm kind of at a loss for words.

Way back when 1676 won the Rookie All-Star award at the NJ Regional, Bart stopped by after the ceremony to congratulate us. I had no idea who he was, but his warmth and genuine admiration made a lasting impression.

And he kept stopping by to congratulate us as we won new awards over the years. He was really excited for me when I was awarded WFFA at the MAR CMP last year. I always asked him how his classic Mercedes was doing, a beautiful convertible.

He really made us feel the power of our accomplishments.

Life just isn't fair. :(

My deepest sympathy to the Kamen family.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

On behalf of team 2705, WE ROBOT, we send our condolences to the entire Kamen family during this difficult time.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

I am privileged to have had the opportunity to meet him, and get to know his family. Words cannot express everything wonderful that he has accomplished. To Libby, Ruth, and the rest of the Kamen family my heart is with you and always will be. Bart was one of the best and my family and I send our condolences. All my love.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

I am in shock right now.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Dr. Bart Kamen was an inspiration to all of us. He will be very missed by the FIRST community and by all those who had the pleasure of knowing him. Team 75 sends its condolences to the Kamen family, we are so sorry for your loss. Rest In Peace.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

My condolences to Libby, Dean and the whole Kamen family.

I was never privileged to meet Bart, only to see him from afar. But he certainly had a great reputation. Beside being missed by his family, he will be missed by his FIRST family.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Libby and the Kamen family,

Team 1912 mourns the lost of of wonderful man. Please send our condolences to your mother, grandmother, uncles, and aunt. May you find comfort in the memory of all his tikkum olam.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

The world has lost an amazing person, my condolences to the Kamen family.

Dr. Kamen made tremendous progress in the field of curing cancer,
I encourage everyone to learn about Dr. Kamen's research in cancer.

Dr. Kamen at TEDMED 2009
Dr. Kamen at TEDMED 2010
Dr. Kamen at TEDMED 2011

Personally, I am at a loss for words. He was such an inspiration, and he was also a person who, during my freshman year, was the reason I fell in love with FIRST.

During the Logomotion season, myself and a few other members of our team went to the New Jersey Regional to see how the game would be played, and what our focus should be. That night (friday) we were invited to attend the scouting meeting for 1923, helt in Dr. Kamen's basement. It was there that he served us food and was incredibly generous to us in every way. He also invited members from a few other teams, who were equally excited. In addition, we met people who worked on The New Cool. This experience showed me a a couple of my friends how generous and giving the FIRST community was. This continues to be the best memory I have of my time so far in FIRST.

On behalf of myself and the rest of The Mechanical Marauders, FIRST Team 271, we are incredibly saddened by his loss. The entire Kamen family is in our hearts and thoughts tonight. He will be dearly missed, and never forgotten.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Throughout participating in FIRST and while living in Philadelphia, my family has had the privilege of being around Dr. Kamen and his amazing family. He was always incredibly kind, honest, and funny; the greatest memory I have is when Libby hurt her leg, Rohith Surampudi and I got her flowers and he treated us to Chinese food.

I'm still in shock and my words are probably coming out as a rambling mess now. The Kamens are in the thoughts of the Matt family.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Our deepest condolences go out to the Kamen family. This must be a truly painful time. I'd only met Bart on a few occasions, but it was always clear how incredible a professional and kind a man he was and I know how difficult it is to lose a father at a young age.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Wow, such sad news. :(

Oh behalf of the Aztechs, we send our heartfelt condolences to the Kamen family during this difficult time.

Bart will be missed for sure.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

While I personally did not have the honor of meeting Dr. Kamen, I know he left a great legacy and stood among giants in this world.

As an alumnus of FIRST Team 1002, The CircuitRunners, and on behalf of them, we send our deepest sympathy for the Kamen family and will keep them in our hearts and our thoughts.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Thank you all, so much. Mom and I are keeping up with the thread and we really appreciate all of your kind words and love.

This plain ol' sucks. That's about all I can say. There aren't any words for this.

My dad will be missed and loved by so many, and that gives us a lot of comfort.
Thank you very much.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Praying you and your family in this tough time! :(

Re: Bart Kamen
 

I am one of the lucky ones who has been honored to meet the Kamen family over the years. Bart was an inspiration to many including Dean himself who constantly would say how great Bart was. My condolences to the family. I was in total shock when I heard this. Libby and family, I lost my father a few years ago, I can only tell you it gets easier with time. I will always remember Dr. Kamen.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

From all of us at 3314, the Mechanical Mustangs, our thoughts and prayers are with Ruth, Libby, and the family. I was able to sit with Mr. & Mrs. Kamen last year at the Hatsboro-Horsham event while 1923 was in the elimination matches; he spoke about watching Libby on the field the years before. My alumni from 555 would always come out of chairman's judging and be so excited to have had 10 minutes to speak with him. Many of those students are now working as engineers, programmers, scientists, or in their first years of medical school. He had such an amazing impact on our communities and families. We celebrate his life and are thankful for the gift of life he gave to so many.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Thanks, Bart. I enjoyed our time together.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

I met Dr. Kamen briefly in passing outside of the VIP tent at the afterparty in ATL in 2005 (or '06?). He was laboriously making his way through a patch of tables on a Segway, and he was moving chairs out of the way (while standing on the Segway) as he went. We offered to help move the chairs, but we never bothered to ask why he was working his way through the patch of tables to begin with... He just seemed like an insanely great guy.

Condolences to all of you who knew him well. :( It seems like the world lost something great today.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

I have never known what to say to people at a time like this but I just re-listened to a very moving non-political speech Joe Biden gave to the TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors of active military personnel killed in action) organization. Having been through the loss of family members himself, he promised that the time would eventually come when the person's memory would "bring a smile to your face before it brought a tear to your eye".

Here is the link in case anyone wants to watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwZ6UfXm410

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Although I never met Bart; I can tell by the words of those who he has touched that he was a great man. My condolences go out to Libby and the rest of the Kamen family. Rest In Peace Bart.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to meet Dr. Bart Kamen. From what others' endearing stories, he seems to have been an incredible man, father, researcher and even FIRST Judge. I am grateful for the service he has done both for the FRC community as well as the world by furthering cancer research. I guess the Kamen family just has a way of touching people.

My deepest condolences go out to Libby, Dean and the rest of the Kamen family as well as those who knew him well.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

See you starside, Bart.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Wow. I tried to type something several times, and feel none of my words truly describe Dr. Kamen. What I can say is, although I had brief conversations with Dr. Kamen, he was one of the first people whom I met, in person, in the FIRST world that gave me some of my first inspiration.

My heart goes out to his family.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

FRC Team 1501 T.H.R.U.S.T. sends it's deepest condolences to what seems like an incredible man, father and brother.
Rest in Peace. You will be missed.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

I was one of the lucky ones who got to know Dr. Kamen casually through FIRST, as well as his wife and Libby. I loved watching him encourage the kids and cheer them on during game play at competitions. His conversations were always fascinating, and I relished the time I was able to spend with him. Dr. Kamen inspired me in so many ways. I will miss talking with my role model, but will never forget what he taught through his words and deeds.

Libby, I hope that you and your mom will make it through this difficult time by relying on the wonderful daily memories you have of your dad, and knowing that he made a difference to so many kids - especially the ones who are alive today because of him.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

I first met the Kamen family at the 2006 Montclair Mayhem post-season event. My son Pace was in 8th grade, and he and a friend partnered with Libby Kamen and a friend to use an old Raider Robotix robot as pre-rookies getting introduced to this program, well before teams 1807 and 1923 existed. Dr. and Mrs. Kamen explained to my wife and I just what this program was all about, and we felt welcome right from the outset that this was going to be something great. I subsequently was inspired by Dr. Kamen during many of the introductory speeches he gave at FIRST kickoff events at Montgomery.

He will be missed...

Re: Bart Kamen
 

On behalf of the Grease Monkeys and myself, I like to send or deepest condolence to the kamen family for thier lost, he is in a much better place, watching over his family and the entire FRC community

Dr. Kamen was such an inspiration to us all. I and the RoboBees send our deepest condolences to Libby and her family at this time of grief. He and his influence will be missed. We will be keeping the entire Kamen family in our thoughts and prayers.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

I only had the opportunity to meet him once, when he judged us for Chairman's at CMP in 2011, but Dr. Kamen made you feel like you'd known him forever. I'll never forget his calm, friendly attitude, and how he helped my high school team continue to be inspired in what we do. RIP Bart Kamen

Re: Bart Kamen
 

I am very sorry for your loss... I didn't know your father, but I heard enough stories to be sorry about it.
I hope you and your family can find comfort at this dark time.

God bless his soul.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Here is a link to the obituary. What an amazing man. I feel fortunate to have known him.

http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/starl...73#fbLoggedOut

Re: Bart Kamen
 

I honestly choked back tears when I heard the news. What an amazing, inspirational man.

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to meet him, even if it was only briefly at CMP 2011. I was staying with Libby, but arrived in the city before her, so I had to meet with him to get my room key. He was very kind, asking me about where I was from, asking how the ride down was, asking a bit about my team, and making sure I was excited for the event. I was completely alone in the city at that point, and that small exchange really calmed my nerves and made me feel less alone. I saw him a couple more times throughout the weekend, and he always greeted me and asked how I was doing. I wish I had had more opportunities to talk with him; what a fascinating and friendly man!

Rest in Peace, Dr. Kamen.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Dr. Kamen had a strong case of Old World Manners. His manners and his grace resonated from within; they were just part and parcel of who he was. We see them reflected in Libby. They were really something.

I've been thinking about Ian's post about moving chairs out of the way as he moved through a tent. I've been thinking about it a lot. :) What I've come up with is that Dr. Kamen was clearing a path and putting the chairs back where they belonged for the people that would come later for other gatherings in the tent. It just sounds like something he would do. Kind of, leave it better than you found it.

Jane

Re: Bart Kamen
 

On behalf of FIRST Team 375(The Robotic Plague), we send our condolences to the Kamen family. Bart Kamen’s inspiration and dedication towards others was the foundation of Gracious Professionalism we should all strive to imitate.

Re: Bart Kamen
 

Sorry to bump an old thread - I just realized I hadn't really gotten a good 'thank you' to you all. Life's been blurry for a little while.

I've gotten so many wonderful messages from FIRSTers and it means so much to us. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We feel the love.

See you during the season, all.