Dean Kamen

The remainder of this article needs thorough fact-checking - it coincides with what I remember reading but I haven't gone and checked it properly

Probably most well-known to the public from the publicity surrounding the product that eventually became known as the Segway HT - a kind of electric scooter with a complex, computer-controlled gyroscopic stabilisation and control system that keep the Segway balanced on two horizontally-placed wheels and controlled by moving body weight. The machine's secret development was the object of much speculation after segments of a book quoting Steve Jobs and other notable IT visionaries espousing its society-revolutionising potential were leaked in 1999.

However, Mr. Kamen was already a successful and wealthy inventor, after inventing a new type of blood pumping and filtering system for medical applications (check), as well as an all-terrain electric wheelchair using many of the same gyroscopic balancing technologies that later made their way into the Segway.

In April 2002, Kamen was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize for inventors for his invention of the Segway and of an infusion pump for diabetics.