Seminar in Comparative Biomechanics

EEB 800 (special topics), and at Technion

On a volunteer basis, Prof. Revzen developed a new course for the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB), in which he holds a courtesy appointment.
He taught this seminar intermittently, primarily based on the interest of PhD students from EEB and/or engineering. He has also taught similar seminar classes at the Technion, with varying topics: MechEng 036067 Advanced Topics: Biomechanics of Legged Locomotion, MechEng 036100 Advanced Topics: Legged Robot Locomotion – an experimental perspective, and MechEng 036067 Advanced Topics: Geometric Concepts in Robot Locomotion.

All of these seminars shared a similar structure. While the choice of seminar topic guided the papers read, these seminars all focus on teaching students to read the scientific literature. This includs topics such as:

  • What kinds of publications are there?
  • When should we use primary literature and when are secondary sources better?
  • What is the peer review process like?
  • What publication strategies did the authors use to disseminate their ideas?
  • What kinds of publications should we read to learn a new field?