Igor Gamow
Rustem Igor Gamow, son of famous scientist
George Gamow, is a
microbiology professor and
inventor. His most well known inventions include: the
Gamow bag, and the
Shallow Underwater Breathing Apparatus.
Rustem Igor Gamow was born to famous
cosmologist and
physicist,
George Gamow, and ballet dancer,
Rho Gamow. Finishing high school at age 17, Gamow joined the
National Ballet Company in the footsteps of his mother. Before enrolling in the
University of Colorado, where his father taught
Physics, in
Microbiology and
Microphysics; Igor Gamow held jobs such as breaking horses, delivering packages by motorcycle, and teaching karate.
Being an avid outdoorsmen, many of Gamow's inventions have improved the safety of outdoor activities. Igor Gamow's first major invention was the
Gamow bag (first patented in 1990), which aided mountain climbers. The bag would allow the user to increase the
air pressure within, to avoid the potentially deadly low
air pressure at high altitudes.
Sir Edmund Hillary, first person to lead an expedition to climb
Mount Everest, wrote to Gamow personally, praising his invention.
Another major invention of his, is the SUBA (Shallow Underwater Breathing Apparatus) gear. The SUBA serves as an air-pressurized
snorkle system, that allows the user to swim up to 10 feet below the water's surface without coming up for air.
Patents
* 6,029,374 -- Shoe and foot prosthesis with bending beam spring structures
* 5,947,116 -- Underwater breathing apparatus with pressurized snorkel
* 5,701,686 -- Shoe and foot prosthesis with bending beam spring structures
* 5,580,094 -- In-line skate walking guard
* 5,467,764 -- Hypobaric sleeping chamber
* 5,398,678 -- Hyperbaric chamber and exercise environment
* 5,367,790 -- Shoe and foot prosthesis with a coupled spring system
* 5,360,001 -- Hyperbaric chamber closure means
* 5,193,530 -- Underwater breathing apparatus
* 5,109,837 -- Hyperbaric chamber
* 4,974,829 -- Hyperbaric chamber
Igor Gamow is currently conducting research, in
Bionics, on an
orthopedic knee brace that stores energy within a spring from the
hamstring and redirects it to the
quadriceps.
In the spring of 2004, CU fired Professor Gamow of the Chemical Engineering Department for moral turpitude. In 2002, a former assistant of Gamow's filed a lawsuit against the University alleging sexual harassment and sexual assault. After the lawsuit was filed, CU began to take steps to fire the professor. In 2004 the CU Board of Regents unanimously upheld the recommendation to fire Gamow. The lawsuit by the former assistant is expected to be held in federal court in 2006. Professor Gamow has also filed a lawsuit against CU in an attempt to be reinstated.
In May 2006, CU lost the lawsuit that had been filed by Gamow's former assistant and was ordered to pay her $285,000 plus attorney's fees.
