True inventors are my heroes; guys like Burt Rutan, Dean Kamen and Ray Kurzweil are constantly looking at things and saying "how can we do this better?". As a result of their innovations, we got private spaceships, portable dialysis machines and music synthesizers. And now, personal flying scooters!
The Lemelson-MIT Program provides the resources and inspiration to make invention and innovation more accessible to todayÂ’s youth. It accomplishes this mission through outreach activities and annual awards, including the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize, the largest single award in the United States for invention.
Both Kamen and Kurzweil are previous winners, so this prize puts you in some pretty impressive company. The 2005 winner Elwood "Woody" Norris, was honored for his work in acoustics with his highly directional HyperSonic Sound system, and development of the AirScooter (which should go on sale later this year).
The AirScooter is a coaxial rotor helicopter. Through clever design and high-tech materials this rotorcraft is classified as an ultralight - no pilots license required. It's intended as a recreational vehicle - sort of a flying jetski. There is no swash plate, collective or cyclic, so flying it is incredibly easy. Best of all, it will be under $50,000 and completely assembled (just bolt on the rotors).
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