Randal A. Koene is a Dutch

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, Biological neural network, neural circuits, and glia, and their Behavior, behavioral, biological, and psycholo ...

and neuroengineer. He co-founded carboncopies.org, an organization dedicated to researching Substrate-Independent Minds (SIM). From 2008 to 2010, Koene served as the Director of the Department of Neuroengineering at the Fatronik-Tecnalia Institute in Spain. He holds a Ph.D. in

Computational Neuroscience Computational neuroscience (also known as theoretical neuroscience or mathematical neuroscience) is a branch of neuroscience which employs mathematics, computer science, theoretical analysis and abstractions of the brain to understand th ...

from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

and an M.Sc. in

Electrical Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

with a specialization in

Information Theory Information theory is the mathematical study of the quantification (science), quantification, Data storage, storage, and telecommunications, communication of information. The field was established and formalized by Claude Shannon in the 1940s, ...

from

Delft University of Technology The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft; ) is the oldest and largest Dutch public university, public Institute of technology, technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. It specializes in engineering, technology, computing, design, a ...

. Koene's academic career includes a tenure as a professor at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Center for Memory and Brain and co-founding the Neural Engineering Corporation of Massachusetts. He also established MindUploading.org. He first proposed the term and specific approach called

whole brain emulation Mind uploading is a speculative process of whole brain emulation in which a brain scan is used to completely emulate the mental state of the individual in a digital computer. The computer would then run a simulation of the brain's information ...

, aimed at achieving mind transfer to a different substrate. In his professional research, Koene focuses on implementing whole brain emulation, which involves creating large-scale, high-resolution representations and emulations of neuronal circuitry activity. This work is essential for developing patient-specific neuroprostheses. Additionally, he contributed to the

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

working group convened in 2007, which aimed at formulating the initial roadmap towards whole brain emulation. Koene has professional expertise in

computational neuroscience Computational neuroscience (also known as theoretical neuroscience or mathematical neuroscience) is a branch of neuroscience which employs mathematics, computer science, theoretical analysis and abstractions of the brain to understand th ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

information theory Information theory is the mathematical study of the quantification (science), quantification, Data storage, storage, and telecommunications, communication of information. The field was established and formalized by Claude Shannon in the 1940s, ...

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

. He organizes neural engineering efforts to obtain and replicate functional and structural information from the neural substrate for use in neuroprostheses and neural interfaces. Using NETMORPH, his computational framework for simulating the morphological development of neuronal circuitry, Koene's lab is developing a Virtual Brain Laboratory. This laboratory aims to provide neuroscientists, neuroengineers, and clinicians with large-scale, high-resolution quantitative tools analogous to the computational tools essential in fields such as genetics, chemistry, and aerospace industry.

References

External links

carboncopies.org

netmorph.org

Singularity Summit 2009, Video: The Time is Now: As a Species and as Individuals we Need Whole Brain Emulation"

AGI 2010 Tutorial, Video: "Neural Mechanisms of Reinforcement Learning"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koene, Randal A. McGill University Faculty of Science alumni Delft University of Technology alumni Living people Transhumanists Year of birth missing (living people)