Robert C. Dean Jr.

President, Synergy Innovations, Inc., Lebanon, N.H.
Adjunct Professor of Engineering, Emeritus
603/646-2807
rcd@synnovations.com

Bob Dean served as an associate and later a full professor of engineering at Dartmouth from 1961 to 1984. He then joined Thayer School's adjunct faculty. Dean came to Dartmouth after being an assistant professor at MIT and head of advanced engineering at Ingersoll-Rand Company. The founder or co-founder of eight companies (see below), Dean holds 18 US patents and received one of the first "Tibbett's Pioneer Awards" in recognition of his contributions to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. As President of Synergy Innovations, Dean is developing products, processes, and materials for: aids to the handicapped; biomedical, biotechnological, and diagnostic applications; machining difficult materials; and advanced materials fabrication.

In addition to being a successful fluids engineer and entrepreneur, Dean has a personal interest in prosthetics as a transfemoral amputee for 60 years. He has devoted much of his time and attention to solving the every-day challenges of lower-limb amputees.

Expertise

Fluid mechanics; plasma-arcs; medical, bioprocess, and biomechanics engineering; injury prevention/rehabilitation; materials processing; energy; venture creation; product innovation.

Education

• S.B., Mechanical Engineering, M.I.T. 1949
• S.M., Mechanical Engineering, M.I.T. 1949
• Sc.D., Mechanical Engineering, M.I.T. 1954

Entrepreneurship

• Creare, Inc.
• Hypertherm (metal cutting technology)
• Creare Innovations Inc. (xerography and motion control), later called Spectra Inc. and now called FUJIFILM Dimatix, Inc. (four color, hot wax, drop-on-demand printers)
• Verax (production mammalian-cell culture systems)
• Synosys, now PerSeptive Biosystems, division of Perkin-Elmer (biotechnology instruments and process equipment)
• Synergy Research Corporation (motion-control and reprographics engineering)
• Synergy Innovations, nanotechnology, materials processing, thermal sciences, energy sources
• Simbex, technology for sports safety and healthcare

In the News

• NH Business Review
  July 18, 2008
  "Growing Your Business: An interview with serial inventor Bob Dean"

• STLtoday.com (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
  October 28, 2007
  Simbex in "Researcher studies high school athletes, hoping to make the sport safer"

Awards

• Member, National Academy of Engineering (1977)
• Fellow, ASME
• Gold Medal, ASME (1996)
• Entrepreneur of the Year Award, New Hampshire Technology Council (1998)

Selected Patents

• U.S. Patent No. 5,833,861; Perfusive Chromatography; Afeyan, N.B., Regnier, F.E. and Dean, R.C., Jr., November 10, 1998.
• U.S. Patent No. 6,152,855; In-Bed Exercise Machine and Method of Use; Dean, R.C., Jr., Diamond, S., O'Neil, G.B., Smith D.S., Heermans, A.G. and Deneen, E,K.; November 28, 2000.
• U.S. Patent No. 6,585,774; Dynamic Variable Geometry Fitting Systems for Use with a Body Appliance; Dean, Jr., R.C., Mayor, M.M., Nelson, D.F., Braley, C.S. and Blanchard, M.W.; July 1, 2003.
• U.S. Patent No. 6,667,459; Configurable Nozzle Baffle Apparatus and Method; Woods, K.J., Hackett, C.M.; Dean, Jr., R.C. and Garg, S.; December 23, 2003.
• U.S. Patent No. 6,720,518; Process and Apparatus for Cutting or Welding a Workpiece; Sanders, N.A., Couch, R.W., Yang, Y., Dean, Jr., R.C., Woods, K.J., Hackett, C.M., Sobr, J. and Connally, W.J.; April 13, 2004.