Noah Cowan, MS, PhD
Highlights
Languages
- English
Gender
MaleJohns Hopkins Affiliations:
- Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Faculty
About Noah Cowan
Background
Noah J. Cowan received a B.S. degree from the Ohio State University, Columbus, in 1995, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1997 and 2001 – all in electrical engineering. Following his Ph.D., he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley for 2 years. In 2003, Prof. Cowan joined the mechanical engineering department at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, where he is now a Professor. Prof. Cowan’s research interests include mechanics and multisensory control in animals and machines. Prof. Cowan received the NSF PECASE award in 2010, the James S. McDonnell Foundation Scholar Award in Complex Systems in 2012, and two Johns Hopkins Discovery Awards in 2015, 2016, and 2023. In addition, Prof. Cowan received the William H. Huggins Award for excellence in teaching in 2004, and the Dunn Family Award in 2014, conferred for having “. . . an extraordinarily positive impact upon the lives of one or more undergraduate students.” Prof. Cowan is an IEEE Fellow.
Videos
No Clowning Around: Juggling Study Shows How Senses Help Us Run,Johns Hopkins University February 11, 2014
Recent News Articles and Media Coverage
You Don't Want To Touch An Electric Eel, Animalogic November 29, 2019
Electric Fish Creates Force Field | National Science Foundation News, April 5, 2012
Additional Academic Titles
Joint Appointment in Neuroscience
Research Interests
Sensorimotor integration, multisensory control, and biomechanics in animals and robots. The LIMBS Lab uses control theory and dynamical systems to study how brains and bodies coordinate movement, with applications in neuroscience, robotics, and rehabilitation.
Research Summary
SENSORIMOTOR CONTROL IN BIOLOGICAL AND ROBOTIC SYSTEMS
The Locomotion in Mechanical and Biological Systems (LIMBS) Laboratory investigates the principles of sensorimotor integration that enable agile, robust movement in animals and robots. This work bridges neuroscience, biomechanics, and control theory, revealing how the brain and body coordinate motion and how these insights can inform the design of bio-inspired machines. The LIMBS Lab approaches animal locomotion as an analysis problem—reverse engineering how neural circuits interact with biomechanics to generate behavior—while viewing robotics as a design problem, using biological insights to engineer novel control strategies.
The lab explores cross-modal sensory integration and motor control across diverse model systems. In Drosophila melanogaster, the team investigates how the brain fuses multisensory information to guide navigation under uncertainty. In weakly electric fish, they study how animals modulate sensory and motor outputs during complex social and environmental interactions. With collaborators, the LIMBS Lab has also explored the neural basis of airflow sensing and flight control in bats, tactile navigation in cockroaches, and upper limb movement disorders in individuals with cerebellar ataxia. Across these projects, a common thread is the use of control-theoretic frameworks to quantify how biological systems maintain stability and adapt to perturbations.
The LIMBS Lab integrates behavioral experiments, neurophysiology, virtual reality environments, and mathematical modeling to uncover general principles of movement control. By collaborating closely with neuroscientists, engineers, and clinicians, the lab not only advances our understanding of animal and human motor systems, but also contributes to the development of more capable, adaptive robotic systems.
Google Scholar - Publications
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=V6LJpwgAAAAJ&hl=en
PubMed - Publications
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Cowan+NJ&cauthor_id=33025903
Research Gate - Research Profile
Graduate Program Affiliations
Mechanical Engineering
Computer Science
Electrical Engineering
Neuroscience
Biomedical Engineering
Expertise
Education
- University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), Ph.D., 2001
- University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), M.S., 1997
- Ohio State University, B.S., 1995