Shane Chen ( zh, 陈星; born 10 February 1956 in Beijing, China) is a Chinese-American

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

and entrepreneur based in Camas, WA USA. He is best known for inventing the self-balancing hoverboard.

Early life and education

Chen grew up in Beijing, China and attended

Beijing Agricultural University China Agricultural University (CAU, ; abbreviated as 农大) is a public research university in Beijing, People's Republic of China specializing in agriculture, biology, engineering, veterinary medicine, economics, management, humanities and soc ...

for a degree in

agricultural meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

. A difficult environment for starting and growing businesses in mid-1980s China led Chen to immigrate to America in search of better opportunities.

Career and inventions

In 1988 he founded CID, Inc. (now called CID Bio-Science), to develop

scientific instruments A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research. History Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, an ...

for plant and agricultural research. Specific products in the field included photosynthesis meter, a leaf scanner and a plant canopy analyzer. During that time Chen worked with NASA and developed a special leaf area meter that was sent to space used in Mir space station. Chen sold CID in 2009 to become a full-time inventor of consumer products. In 2003 Chen founded Inventist, Inc., a company he started as an avenue with which he could develop more mainstream ideas and inventions. Entering the retail marketplace in ‘03, Chen introduced the AquaSkipper, a human-powered hydrofoil watercraft. The AquaSkipper won many awards including being a finalist at ISPO BrandNew awards, and it was featured on The History Channel's

Modern Marvels ''Modern Marvels'' is an American worldwide television series that formerly aired on the History Channel and is currently shown on Story Television. The program focuses on how technologies affect and are used in modern society. It is History's ...

as part of an invention competition. Next, Chen developed and patented a three-wheeled scooter and licensed the design to

RazorUSA Razor USA LLC, better known as Razor, is an American designer and manufacturer of manual and electric scooters, bicycles, and personal transporters. The company was founded in Cerritos, California in 2000 by Carlton Calvin and the JD Corporati ...

in 2006. Chen continued to develop other consumer products notably the Orbitwheel Skates, UltraDrainer, Lunicycle, Solowheel and Hovertrax. He has ongoing problems with illegally made copies of his products, which are being produced and distributed worldwide out of China.

Solowheel development (A spinning wheel)

In March 2010, he filed a provisional patent for Solowheel, a self-balancing electric unicycle, using a

gyroscopic A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rot ...

sensors to balance the unit in the direction of travel. The Solowheel won numerous awards including 2011 ISPO Bike BrandNew finalist in Munich, Germany and 2012 INPEX Invention Trade Show first runner-up in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. It has been featured on

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather foreca ...

and

Bloomberg TV Bloomberg Television (on-air as Bloomberg) is an American-based pay television network focusing on business and capital market programming, owned by Bloomberg L.P. It is distributed globally, reaching over 310 million homes worldwide. It is hea ...

in 2011. In 2012 on

MLB Fan Cave The MLB Fan Cave was a building on 4th Street and Broadway in New York, designed by Paul DiMeo, where baseball fans, selected by Major League Baseball as part of its Dreamjob program, were tasked with watching every baseball game in the entire year ...

and The Doctors TV show.

Hovertrax development

In February 2012, a provisional patent application was filed for the Hovertrax. The patent was granted in 2014. The Hovertrax was released to the public in 2013. The Hovertrax was the first

self-balancing scooter A self-balancing scooter (also hoverboard, self-balancing board, segway or electric scooter board) is a self-balancing personal transporter consisting of two motorized wheels connected to a pair of articulated pads on which the rider places thei ...

of the type that become known as hoverboards.

References

External links

Patents by Inventor Shane Chen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Shane Businesspeople from Beijing 1956 births Living people Chinese emigrants to the United States American inventors Sustainable transport pioneers