DEKA Research & Development, founded in 1982 by Dean Kamen, operates from the historic Amoskeag Millyard in Manchester, New Hampshire, employing nearly a thousand engineers, technicians, machinists, and designers. The company has built a portfolio of more than 6,000 patents across multiple technology domains, with core capabilities spanning the complete product lifecycle from R&D through design and manufacturing. Over three decades of operation, DEKA has developed technologies across medical devices, water purification systems, autonomous robotics, and mobility enhancement systems.
The company's technical scope includes infusion systems, dialysis innovations, organ preservation technologies, and what it describes as regenerative manufacturing approaches. DEKA's autonomous robotics work represents one of several parallel development tracks, alongside medical device development and water purification technologies. The engineering team works collaboratively across disciplines, with machinists, designers, and engineers operating under the same roof to iterate on hardware and system integration challenges.
DEKA maintains end-to-end engineering and manufacturing capabilities on its New Hampshire campus, allowing for rapid prototyping and refinement of complex electromechanical systems. The company's work addresses problems at the intersection of hardware constraints, real-world deployment requirements, and regulatory considerations - particularly in medical applications where reliability and safety are non-negotiable. Projects span from assistive mobility technologies to autonomous systems, each requiring different approaches to sensing, actuation, and control architecture.
The organization positions itself as serving global markets while maintaining its operational base in New Hampshire. Its patent portfolio and multi-decade operating history indicate sustained technical output across healthcare, robotics, and related fields, with technologies intended for deployment in clinical, field, and industrial environments.