Cowan continues biotechnology, life sciences seminar series

Noah Cowan
Noah Cowan

"Feedback Control as a Framework for Understanding Tradeoffs in Biology," will be presented by Noah Cowan of Johns Hopkins University at 4 p.m., March 18 in E103 Beadle Center. The seminar is free and open to the public.

Control theory arose from a need to control synthetic systems. From regulating steam engines to tuning radios to devices capable of autonomous movement, it provided a formal mathematical basis for understanding the role of feedback in the stability (or change) of dynamical systems. It provides a framework for understanding any system with regulation via feedback, including biological ones such as regulatory gene networks, cellular metabolic systems, sensorimotor dynamics of moving animals, and even ecological or evolutionary dynamics of organisms and populations.

This talk specifically examines how principles from control theory can shed light on our understanding the neuromechanics of locomotion. We draw on examples from aquatic, terrestrial, and aerial locomotion to highlight how one can use control theory to understand the way feedback mechanisms interact with the physical dynamics of animals to determine their stability and response to sensory inputs and perturbations.

The Beadle Center is located at 1901 Vine Street. The complete schedule of seminars may be found at http://biotech.unl.edu/.

More details at: http://go.unl.edu/u79i