Bioengineering and Behavior

• Welcome to the BOL Forum on Evolutionary Psychology by John Grohol, 3/19/97
  • Clinical Sociobiology: A Rationale by James Brody, 9/7/97
    
    

I am a bioengineering graduate student at the University of Washington. I would like to discuss some of my interests relating to behavior and my studies.

I guess the best way to start--a few words from our web page: http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bioewww/

The term "bioengineering" (sometimes-called biomedical engineering) describes a wide range of activities in which the disciplines of engineering and biological or medical science intersect. Representative areas include design of diagnostic and therapeutic devices for clinical use, development of biologically compatible materials, application of state of the art technology to answer biological questions, and any others. The potential is limited by the imagination.

Bioengineering began to emerge as an interdisciplinary field some thirty years ago. Stimulated by seed support from the National Institutes of Health, several pilot programs were set in place. Since then the field has expanded enormously. More than 100 universities now offer training programs funded by hundreds of millions of dollars from government and private sectors. Bioengineering is a growing field with an exciting future.

As for me:

I am very interested in human behavior. I enjoy Ethology and evolutionary behavior very much, much like you. I am interested in and currently investigating these areas: Bioengineering (instrumentation, interfaces, systems, modeling), Ethology, Neuroscience and behavior, Psychology, Bio-robotics, Zoology, Physics (quantum)-> unifying theory, chiropractic/acupuncture, Parapsychology.

Right now my interest in researching pheromone detection in humans. I am also very interested in human performance--how can one manipulate and control his or her body using the mind to directly influence the body or indirectly by modifying behavior: the mind/body connection.

Engineering will be a tool used to study these interests and develop devices that are inspired by these studies.

Steven Bathiche

• Congrats Steve and the Mothmobile by James Brody, 6/11/98