Misha Mahowald
Encyclopedia
Dr. Michelle Mahowald (1963–1996) was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
.
, graduating with a degree in biology
in 1985. She continued at Caltech as a PhD student in Computation and Neural Systems under the supervision of Professor Carver Mead
, a specialist in computer science. For her thesis, Mahowald created her own project by combining the fields of biology, computer science, and electrical engineering, to produce the 'silicon retina.'
The silicon retina used analog electrical circuits to mimic the biological functions of rod cell
s and cone cell
s in the retina
of the eye. The invention was not only highly original and potentially useful as a device for restoring sight to the blind, but it was also one of the most eclectic feats of electrical and biological engineering of the time. This remarkable example of engineering earned Mahowald a well-deserved reputation as one of the most famous female engineers of her age. She was awarded a doctorate in computational neuroscience
in 1992, and her invention of the silicon retina and the silicon neuron earned her articles in the prestigious scientific journals Scientific American
and Nature
, as well as four patents and the Clauser Prize for her dissertation. A revised version of her dissertationhttp://www.ini.uzh.ch/~tobi/papers/mishathesis.pdf was subsequently published in book form.
Mahowald then re-located to the University of Oxford
for one year to do a post-doctoral fellowship with eminent neuroscientists Kevan Martin and Rodney Douglas. After the completion of this project, Mahowald moved to Zurich, Switzerland to help found the Institute of Neuroinformatics (Institut für Neuroinformatik), a research institution whose mission is to discover the key principles by which brains work and to implement these in artificial systems that interact intelligently with the real world.
Like many creative geniuses, Mahowald was a complicated individual, haunted by conflicting emotions. While drawn passionately to science itself, she did not find a career in science welcoming to women. She felt out of place with, and often misunderstood by the mostly male student body at Caltech, and outnumbered by the predominantly male faculty there and elsewhere. Also, she found that the profession of scientist was one which drew her farther and farther away from her family and home environment, and she was not happy in either Oxford or Zurich. In 1996 she was made a member of the Women in Technology International
(WITI) 'Hall of Fame
'. Mahowald died in Zurich later that same year at the age of 33. However, she should be remembered not only as a pioneer in the field of electrical engineering, but also as a pioneering woman in field where women have not always felt welcomed.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
.
Life and career
As a young girl, she used the name Misha (short for Michelle) as a nom-de-plume in her diary, but later adopted it as her official name. After graduating high school, she attended the California Institute of TechnologyCalifornia Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
, graduating with a degree in biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
in 1985. She continued at Caltech as a PhD student in Computation and Neural Systems under the supervision of Professor Carver Mead
Carver Mead
Carver Andress Mead is a US computer scientist. He currently holds the position of Gordon and Betty Moore Professor Emeritus of Engineering and Applied Science at the California Institute of Technology , having taught there for over 40 years.Mead studied electrical engineering at Caltech, getting...
, a specialist in computer science. For her thesis, Mahowald created her own project by combining the fields of biology, computer science, and electrical engineering, to produce the 'silicon retina.'
The silicon retina used analog electrical circuits to mimic the biological functions of rod cell
Rod cell
Rod cells, or rods, are photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye that can function in less intense light than can the other type of visual photoreceptor, cone cells. Named for their cylindrical shape, rods are concentrated at the outer edges of the retina and are used in peripheral vision. On...
s and cone cell
Cone cell
Cone cells, or cones, are photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye that are responsible for color vision; they function best in relatively bright light, as opposed to rod cells that work better in dim light. If the retina is exposed to an intense visual stimulus, a negative afterimage will be...
s in the retina
Retina
The vertebrate retina is a light-sensitive tissue lining the inner surface of the eye. The optics of the eye create an image of the visual world on the retina, which serves much the same function as the film in a camera. Light striking the retina initiates a cascade of chemical and electrical...
of the eye. The invention was not only highly original and potentially useful as a device for restoring sight to the blind, but it was also one of the most eclectic feats of electrical and biological engineering of the time. This remarkable example of engineering earned Mahowald a well-deserved reputation as one of the most famous female engineers of her age. She was awarded a doctorate in computational neuroscience
Computational neuroscience
Computational neuroscience is the study of brain function in terms of the information processing properties of the structures that make up the nervous system...
in 1992, and her invention of the silicon retina and the silicon neuron earned her articles in the prestigious scientific journals Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
and Nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
, as well as four patents and the Clauser Prize for her dissertation. A revised version of her dissertationhttp://www.ini.uzh.ch/~tobi/papers/mishathesis.pdf was subsequently published in book form.
Mahowald then re-located to the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
for one year to do a post-doctoral fellowship with eminent neuroscientists Kevan Martin and Rodney Douglas. After the completion of this project, Mahowald moved to Zurich, Switzerland to help found the Institute of Neuroinformatics (Institut für Neuroinformatik), a research institution whose mission is to discover the key principles by which brains work and to implement these in artificial systems that interact intelligently with the real world.
Like many creative geniuses, Mahowald was a complicated individual, haunted by conflicting emotions. While drawn passionately to science itself, she did not find a career in science welcoming to women. She felt out of place with, and often misunderstood by the mostly male student body at Caltech, and outnumbered by the predominantly male faculty there and elsewhere. Also, she found that the profession of scientist was one which drew her farther and farther away from her family and home environment, and she was not happy in either Oxford or Zurich. In 1996 she was made a member of the Women in Technology International
Women in Technology International
Women in Technology International is a worldwide organization dedicated to the advancement of women in business and technology. It was established in 1989 by Carolyn Leighton as an email-based information network business....
(WITI) 'Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
'. Mahowald died in Zurich later that same year at the age of 33. However, she should be remembered not only as a pioneer in the field of electrical engineering, but also as a pioneering woman in field where women have not always felt welcomed.
Publications
The following is a list of Misha Mahowald's scientific publications from 1989 onwards. Her name continued to appear on publications after her death in recognition of the strong contributions she had made to those works while still alive.2000
- R. Hahnloser, R. Sarpeshkar, M. Mahowald, R.J. Douglas and S. Seung: "Digital selection and analog amplification co-exist in an electronic circuit inspired by neocortex", Nature, 405: 947-951, 2000
1999
- R.J. Douglas, C. Koch, M.A. Mahowald and K.A.C. Martin: "Recurrent excitation in neocortical circuits", Cerebral Cortex, Plenum Press, 1999
- R.J. Douglas, M.A. Mahowald and A.M. Whatley: "Strutture di Comunicazione Nei Sistemi Analogici Neuromorfi [Communications Infrastructure for Neuromorphic Analog Systems]", Frontiere della Vita, 3: 549-560, D.J. Amit and G. Parisi (Eds.), Enciclopedia Italiana, 1999
- R. Hahnloser, R. Douglas, M. Mahowald and K. Hepp: "Feedback interactions between neuronal pointers and maps for attentional processing", Nature Neuroscience, 2: 746--752, 1999
- P. Häfliger and M. Mahowald: "Weight vector normalization in an analog VLSI artificial neuron using a backpropagating action potential", Learning in silicon, G. Cauwenbergh (Ed.), Kluwer Academics, 1999
- P. Häfliger and M. Mahowald: "Spike based normalizing hebbian learning in an analog VLSI artificial neuron", Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing, 18:(2/3) 133-140, Feb, 1999
1998
- P. Häfliger and M. Mahowald: "Weight vector normalization in an analog VLSI artificial neuron using a backpropagating action potential", Neuromorphic Systems, Engineering Silicon from Neurobiology:16, 191-196, L.S. Smith and A.Hamilton (Eds.), World Scientific, 1998
- C. Rasche, R. Douglas and M. Mahowald, "Characterization of a Pyramidal Silicon Neuron", Neuromorphic Systems: Engineering Silicon from Neurobiology:14, 169-177, L.S. Smith and A. Hamilton (Eds.), World Scientific, 1998
1996
- R. Douglas and M. Mahowald: "Design and fabrication of analog VLSI neurons", Methods in Neuronal Modelling: From Synapses to Networks, C. Koch and I. Segev (Eds.), MIT press, 1996
- R.J. Douglas, M.A. Mahowald and K.A.C. Martin: "Microarchitecture of Neocortical Columns", Brain theory - biological basis and computational principles, 75-95, A. Aertsen and V. Braitenberg (Eds.), Elsevier Science, 1996
- R.J. Douglas, M.A. Mahowald and K.A.C. Martin: "Neuroinformatics as explanatory neuroscience", Neuroimage, 4: 25-28, 1996
- R.J. Douglas, M.A. Mahowald, K.A.C. Martin and K.J. Stratford: "The role of synapses in cortical computation", Journal of Neurocytology, 25: 893-911, 1996
- P. Häfliger, M. Mahowald and L. Watts: "A spike based learning neuron in analog VLSI", Advances in neural information processing systems, 9: 692-698, 1996
1995
- R. Douglas and M. Mahowald: "A Constructor set for Silicon Neurons", An Introduction to Neural and Electronic Networks:14 277-296, S.F. Zornetzer, J.L. Davis, C. Lau and T. McKenna (Eds.), Academic Press, 1995
- R. Douglas and M. Mahowald: "Silicon Neurons", The Handbook of Brain Theory and Neural Networks 282-289, M. Arbib (Ed.), MIT Press, 1995
- R. Douglas, M. Mahowald and C. Mead: "Neuromorphic Analog VLSI", Annual Review of Neuroscience, 18: 255-281, 1995
- R.J. Douglas, C. Koch, M. Mahowald, K.A.C. Martin and H.H. Suarez: "Recurrent Excitation in Neocortical Circuits", Science, 269: 981-985, 1995
1994
- R.J. Douglas, M.A. Mahowald and K.A.C. Martin, "Hybrid analog-digital architectures for neuromorphic systems", Neural Networks, 1994 IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence, 3: 1848-1853, IEEE, 1994
1989
- M. Mahowald and T. Delbrück: "Cooperative stereo matching using static and dynamic image features", Analog VLSI Implementation of Neural Systems, 213-238, C. Mead and M. Ismail (Eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1989 http://www.ini.uzh.ch/~tobi/anaprose/stereo/portland.pdf.