Dean for Nobel Prize???

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

...the real concrete legacy it will leave behind is the legion of ex-FIRSTers committed to continually learning new things, improving their skills, and applying their brains to solving the kind of problems you get Nobel prizes for.

There is such a thing as EX-FIRSTers??!!

[Cody Carey]

Yeah, I'll have to agree with Kevin on this one. Even though Dean is a great guy, He's not on par with any of the Nobel Peace Prize winners in my eyes. As was said before... Yes, he is training engineers for tomorrow. Yes, he is providing valuable work experience to thousands of students. And yes, introducing the public to the technical end of life is a very noble thing to do, but does that really deserve one of the most, if not the most prestigious award one can win?

If you think about his inventions, There is nothing really world-changing. The pocket sized medical equipment sure made things more convenient for hospitals, but in the long run... It still does what it did before. His Segway, while being one of the coolest techno-gadgets I've ever seen, is far from groundbreaking. When you really think about it... It is an electric scooter. I understand that it has a few key differences (Placement of the wheels, etc.)... But it boils down to being a two wheeled means of propulsion. Something we've had for hundreds of years.

And the last one that I'll address right now is the IBOT. No matter how much Dean insists it isn't a wheelchair, That is exactly what it is. Sure it makes it so all the folks that have to use them can feel more comfortable talking at the same height as everyone else, and the stare climbing is AMAZING, there is already an infrastructure for wheelchairs that don't do this. The IBOT, along with most of Dean's other creations, is definitely not a necessity.

All I'm saying is that while Dean's work is GREAT, It's not that great, at least not enough that it should get him a Peace Prize.


/Naysaying.

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Do I believe that Dean should get the Nobel Peace prize for FIRST? No. FIRST, in and of itself, is not worldchanging enough.

That said, whe you look at all of Deans lifetime accomplishments (Dialysis machine, iBOT, FIRST, Water Purification machine, Robotic arms with Neural connections, etc) there is a case for him to win the award.

[galewind]

I can see Daniel's argument in that how each individual device that dean's company has invented may not be worthwhile of the nobel prize, but the fact that the majority of dean's work has been put into the benefit of the world could. Be it by enabling people to do things they normally couldn't do, or by enabling people to think things they normally wouldn't have, Dean's work is generated with the goal of solving the world's problems, and his results in devices and in FIRST are proof positive that his efforts, combined with ours, is beginning to make a change in our world.

This may not qualify him for a nobel peace price, but it HAS qualified him for many awards and statements of recognition.

I agree in what Kevin said -- I think Dean would get more appreciation for a FIRST student getting a Nobel Prize than he himself.

[Molten]

If he keeps up the hard work, he will get one eventually. As of now, he isn't there yet. Just give it time and see what happens.

Perhaps LookingForward could give us a prediction on this?

[catsylve]

If you consider the type of organization that Dean has worked to promote in FIRST, I doubt that receiving an award will influence the work that he does. Dean does the things he does out of a desire to improve humanity and that type of dedication doesn't come from a desire to get awards. The respect of the many people Dean has helped means a great deal more than the actual award. We can show that respect by emulating his actions and helping to bring about change.

[DarkFlame145]

I'm not saying that FIRST is the reason why he deserves it it's just a another thing that I think deserves recognition. His work with water purification I think will be very impotent in the future. He has also brought comfort to people that are in wheelchairs with his Ibot and making them more accessible to places.

[Mike Nawrot]

Originally Posted by DarkFlame145

I'm not saying that FIRST is the reason why he deserves it it's just a another thing that I think deserves recognition. His work with water purification I think will be very impotent in the future. He has also brought comfort to people that are in wheelchairs with his Ibot and making them more accessible to places.

Many people have done work in water purification. There are tons of effective, practical systems i've seen. The biggest thing, and the thing that will be worthy of a Nobel Prize, will be actually implementing these systems throughout the world. As for the other work Dean has done...
1)The segway. If this made him worth of a Nobel Prize, then why wouldn't Henry Ford have won an award for making automobiles readily available to people? Afterall, that revolutionized transportation far more than the segway might ever do.
2)The Ibot- how many times have you seen someone on an Ibot? Yea, they're helpful, and they're nifty, but so are a lot of other things. They help such a small percentage of people that it's rather insignificant when compared to some of the Nobel Prize winning accomplishments. Needless to say, it's a great idea, and the engineers that developed the Ibot deserve recognition for their work, but not to the extent of a nobel prize.
3)All the medical innovations he's made- They have generally been improvements upon technology that already existed, making it more handy for hospitals, but generally doing what other equipment has already been able to do. No great discoveries or anything of that nature. Giving him a Nobel Prize for this would mean that all the other inventors that have improved medical technology would deserve Nobel Prizes.
4)The prothestetic arm- this could be considered worthy of a Nobel Prize, I guess, but only after implementing it well. But what was said for the Ibot can be said for this as well. The influence isn't broad enough to truly be worthy.
5)FIRST- Yes, this was his brain child, but has he really been the one to inspire all the students? Or has it been the mentors that inspired? Also, it's not a very concrete thing to base a Nobel Prize on. One could argue that the people who leave FIRST and do great things for humanity would have done those things without FIRST. He may have inspired many people, but if that's the basis for a Nobel Prize, then why didn't Linus Paulings high school teachers get a Nobel Prize when he did?

The truth is, Dean has done a lot of impressive and cool things through life, and he has made a difference, but the culmination of things he's done and the differences he's made aren't broad enough to be worthy of a Nobel Prize. We'll see where the water purification goes. If a few years down the line, clean water is available to everyone, then he'll definately deserve a Nobel Prize. Assuming no one beats him too it.

[XXShadowXX]

the noble prize link that was post previously was to the peace prize.


The winners of the peace prize do things that improve the general welbeing of the entire planet like nuclear disarmment
physics worthy; discover HIGS boson, discover super symetry, unite physics
chemistry worthy; i don't like chemistry so i don't even know
medicine; cure for common cold, cure for cancer, how to regrow limbs
literature; write a really really really good book
Economics; write a really really really good book


I think Dean is a great guy and a genius but his inventions are not worthy of the noble prize

[XXShadowXX]

..

[Uberbots]

im guessing that if one of us wins a Nobel Prize someday, it would mean more to Dean than if he had gotten it himself.

[DarkFlame145]

If Al Gore can get a Noble for telling us something we already know. Why can't Dean get one for trying to improve the way people live? He has impacted so many people, from the extremely poor that don't have clean running water, to people that have had something medically honorific happen to them, and to High school students, to try to encourage them into a field of science and technology to better the world.

[vivek16]

I think Dean is the kind of person who would feel a lot better if he bettered the world than if he won the Nobel Prize.

-Vivek

[DarkFlame145]

All I'm getting at is that i think he deserves the recognition for everything he has done. Sure he would be just as happy if not, but I'm a strong supporter of that people that have done great things should be recognized accordingly.

[Mike Nawrot]

Originally Posted by DarkFlame145

He has impacted so many people, from the extremely poor that don't have clean running water

He hasn't done that though. He's attempting to, but he hasn't yet. The technology to do that is available in many forms, but nobody has been able to implement it around the world. Also, surprisingly, there are still skeptics of global warming, and Al Gore did much more than just tell us something we already know. Keep in mind, he wasn't the only one that won the prize. It was an entire UN committee. They were awarded the prize "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change" (nobelpeaceprize.org). In other words, they were awarded the prize for attempting to unite the world against what is the biggest issue mankind as a whole may ever face. Dean, on the other hand, is trying to repair a culture that has been spoiled with celebrities and excessive money, and has lost sight of the value of education, creative thinking, and engineering. This is not a world issue he is trying to conquer, nor is it the biggest issue in the world. Yes, FIRST is great, and I love it, and I know it has made a big impact on me personally. And yes, Dean deserves some recognition for it. That does not mean he deserves a Nobel Prize though. He has not made a major contribution to the world, yet.
Don't get me wrong, Dean is worthy of quite a bit of recognition, but to claim that he deserves a Nobel Prize shows a bit of ignorance of what a Nobel Prize actually signifies.