IEEE Spectrum August, 2009 - 2

back story
EditoriAl
EdITor IN chIEF

Susan hassler, s.hassler@ieee.org

ExEcUTIVE EdITor

Glenn Zorpette, g.zorpette@ieee.org

MANAGING EdITor

Elizabeth A. Bretz, e.bretz@ieee.org

harry Goldstein (online), h.goldstein@ieee.org;
Jean Kumagai, j.kumagai@ieee.org; Samuel K. Moore (News),
s.k.moore@ieee.org; Tekla S. Perry, t.perry@ieee.org; Philip E. ross,
p.ross@ieee.org; david Schneider, d.a.schneider@ieee.org; William
Sweet, w.sweet@ieee.org
SENIor EdITorS

SENIor ASSocIATE EdITor

Steven cherry (resources),

s.cherry@ieee.org
Sally Adee, s.adee@ieee.org; Erico Guizzo,
e.guizzo@ieee.org; Joshua J. romero (online),
j.j.romero@ieee.org; Sandra Upson, s.upson@ieee.org
ASSocIATE EdITorS

ASSISTANT EdITor

Willie d. Jones, w.jones@ieee.org

SENIor coPy EdITor
coPy EdITor

Joseph N. Levine, j.levine@ieee.org

Michele Kogon, m.kogon@ieee.org

EdITorIAL rESEArchEr

ean Kamen is a throwback
to the era of Edison, Tesla,
and Westinghouse, when a
charismatic engineer--entrepreneur
could be famous. And when
Kamen [right], the multimillionaire
inventor of the Segway, wants to
escape the limelight, he flies his
helicopter to his private island off
the coast of Connecticut.
Kamen has allowed few
journalists to see that retreat,
North Dumpling Island. But he did
invite IEEE Spectrum's Sally Adee
and Francesco Ferorelli, along
with two photographers [above],
for a weekend in May. They got
an exclusive preview of Kamen's
amazing digs-documented in
"Empire Off the Grid," in this
issue-which were then in the
middle of a high--tech renovation.
The backstory behind this Back
Story: Kamen's lair includes a
U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse. Last
year, when the Coast Guard cut the
cable that supplied power to his
island, Kamen decided to revamp
the compound as a superefficient,
LED--lit, zero--net--energy nation.
But when Adee, Ferorelli, and
company got their preview, the

road to renovation was definitely
going through a bumpy stretch. The
boathouse in which the four stayed
was so cold that Ferorelli and Adee
slept, teeth chattering, in every
layer of clothing they'd brought
with them. In the main house the
next morning, they found electrical
engineer and LED specialist Fritz
Morgan, an IEEE member, flinging
towels onto the stove, mopping up a
flash flood that had poured through
the kitchen ceiling.
Kamen hadn't done a thing to his
island's mansion since he bought
the place in 1986. The walls of his
bedroom suite were covered with
'70s--era paneling, and the bathroom
shower featured a floor--to--ceiling
one--way mirror like the ones used
to shield the identities of police
witnesses. The idea is that you can
shower unabashedly while taking
in the stunning views of Fishers
Island Sound.
But the island's delights more
than made up for its privations,
Adee asserts. At sunset, Kamen
gave her a personal tour in his
helicopter. "He might have done a
couple of extra steep loops when she
was in there," Ferorelli says.
o

citiNg ArticlES iN iEEE SpEctrum
IEEE Spectrum publishes two editions. In the international edition, the abbreviation INT appears at the
foot of each page. The North American edition is identified with the letters NA. Both have the same
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you should include the issue designation. For example, the first Update page is in IEEE Spectrum,
Vol. 45, no. 8 (INT), August 2009, p. 9, or in IEEE Spectrum, Vol. 45, no. 8 (NA), August 2009, p. 13.

NA * iEEE SpEctrum * AuguSt 2009

Sharon Basco

ASSISTANT ProdUcEr, SPEcTrUM rAdIo

Francesco Ferorelli,

f.ferorelli@ieee.org
AdMINISTrATIVE ASSISTANTS ramona Gordon, r.gordon@ieee.org;
Nancy T. hantman, n.hantman@ieee.org
INTErN

rosaleen ortiz, rortizde@ieee.org

John Blau, robert N. charette,
Peter Fairley, david Kushner, robert W. Lucky,
Paul McFedries, Kieron B. Murphy, Prachi Patel,
carl Selinger, Seema Singh, John Voelcker
coNTrIBUTING EdITorS

Art & productioN
SENIor ArT dIrEcTor

Mark Montgomery

ASSocIATE ArT dIrEcTor

Michael Solita

ASSISTANT ArT dIrEcTor

Brandon Palacio

PhoTo EdITor

randi Silberman

dIrEcTor, PErIodIcALS ProdUcTIoN SErVIcES
EdITorIAL & WEB ProdUcTIoN MANAGEr
SENIor ELEcTroNIc LAyoUT SPEcIALIST
WEB ProdUcTIoN coordINATor

Peter Tuohy

roy carubia
Bonnie Nani

Jacqueline L. Parker

MULTIMEdIA ProdUcTIoN SPEcIALIST

Michael Spector

EditoriAl AdviSory BoArd
Susan hassler, Chair; Marc T. Apter, Francine d. Berman,
Jan Brown, raffaello d'Andrea, Stephen L. diamond, hiromichi
Fujisawa, Kenneth y. Goldberg, Susan hackwood, Bin he, Erik
heijne, charles h. house, david h. Jacobson, christopher J.
James, ronald G. Jensen, Mary y. Lanzerotti, ruby B. Lee, Tak
Ming Mak, david A. Mindell, c. Mohan, Fritz Morgan, Andrew
M. odlyzko, Leslie d. owens, Barry L. Shoop, Larry L. Smarr,
harry L. "Nick" Tredennick III, Sergio Verdu, William Weihl,
Bas
¸ak yüksel

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The Spectrum Dumpling Gang

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ExEcUTIVE ProdUcEr, SPEcTrUM rAdIo

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum August, 2009