Sporting competitions seem to be what we obsess over, frankly.

Hear the words of Dean Kamen: “Sporting competitions seem to be what we obsess over, frankly. So if we can put engineering, science, technology into a format of healthy, fun competition, we can attract all sorts of kids that might not see the kind of activity we do as accessible or rewarding.” In this saying lies a vision both noble and transformative: to turn the same fire that drives warriors upon the field into the flame that lights the mind. For what is sport but a contest of strength and spirit? And what is invention, if not the contest of intellect against the challenges of the world?

Since ancient times, the arena has been a place of passion. The Greeks gathered in Olympia, not only to witness running and wrestling, but to celebrate the power of the human body. Cities waged their pride upon the shoulders of athletes, and victors were crowned with olive leaves, remembered for centuries. This obsession with sport was no weakness, for it bound people together in joy and rivalry. Yet Kamen calls us to imagine: what if this same fervor could be harnessed for the pursuit of science, technology, and engineering? What if the games we cheered were not only races of feet and fists, but races of mind and innovation?

Consider the great contest of the twentieth century—the Space Race. When the United States and the Soviet Union vied to reach the heavens, the world watched with the same zeal it gave to Olympic games. Yet this was no mere game—it was the triumph of human ingenuity. Rockets soared, satellites circled, and at last, humankind set foot on the moon. The competition stirred not only pride but progress, giving birth to technologies that now serve us daily. Here, in living memory, we see the power of channeling rivalry into invention, of turning the fire of sport into the torch of discovery.

Kamen’s wisdom shines also in his own works. Through the founding of FIRST Robotics, he created tournaments where children and youth could pit their wits against one another, building machines that clash not in violence but in creativity. In these arenas, the roar of the crowd is not for a goal scored by chance, but for a robot that moves with grace, for a team that solves problems through unity and ingenuity. In such competitions, young hearts find that engineering is not dry calculation, but a living adventure—one as thrilling as any game of ball or race of chariots.

And let us speak of accessibility. Too often, science and technology are seen as gates guarded by the few, reserved for the prodigy or the privileged. But when wrapped in the spirit of play, they become open fields where all may enter. A child who once thought mathematics dull may find it alive in the gears of a robot; one who never dreamed of physics may find it in the lift of a drone’s wings. Thus the wisdom of Kamen: to make the path rewarding not only in its end, but in its journey.

The lesson here is profound: do not divide the worlds of body and mind, of play and work. Rather, weave them together, so that the joy of one fuels the mastery of the other. Life’s greatest achievements are often born when passion meets discipline, when the thrill of the contest meets the depth of knowledge. The ancients crowned their athletes with laurel; let us crown our inventors, our thinkers, our builders, with the same honor.

Therefore, let this be your charge: seek to transform every act of learning into a kind of competition—not against others in bitterness, but alongside them in mutual striving. Celebrate the victories of creation as you would the victories of sport. Encourage the young to see engineering, science, and technology not as distant towers, but as living games they may enter. Cheer for them, support them, and honor their courage as they wrestle with the mysteries of the world.

For in the end, the true arena of humanity is not only the stadium, but the workshop, the laboratory, the classroom. There, too, champions are made—champions who will not only win glory, but change the destiny of mankind. And it is this noble truth that Dean Kamen entrusts to us: to turn our obsession with competition into a force that uplifts, enlightens, and empowers generations to come.