Bill Howell
Bill Howell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 25, 1956 |
| Residence | Hussar, Alberta, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Known for | Neural networks, Space weather, Electric Universe |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Neural networks, Space weather, Solar System, Earth modeling |
| Institutions | Natural Resources Canada |
William Neil Howell (born February 25, 1956), known as Bill Howell, is a Canadian independent researcher, retired engineer, and former government project manager. He is based in Hussar, Alberta, Canada, and is known for his work and commentary on neural networks, space weather, the physics of the Sun, and Earth modeling. He maintains an extensive personal website at billhowell.ca on which he publishes his research notes, projects, and reviews.
Biography
Howell was formerly registered as a professional engineer in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Alberta, a status he no longer holds. He worked for the Canadian federal government, serving as Project Manager for Facilities and Special Projects at Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa. After leaving full-time employment he continued independent research from his home in Hussar, Alberta.
Work
Howell's principal area of interest is artificial neural networks and computational intelligence. He has been an active participant in the neural-network research community, holding organizational roles in conferences of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society and the International Neural Network Society, including the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN), for which he served as Publicity Chair for the 2007 meeting in Orlando. His long-running personal project, which he calls "MindCode," concerns computational neuro-genetic modeling, exploring links between neural networks, DNA, RNA, and epigenetics.
Beyond neural networks, Howell writes on a range of topics in the physical and Earth sciences, including space weather, the physics of the Sun, the Solar System, and Earth modeling. He is associated with dissident and alternative-science themes such as the Electric Universe and expanding-Earth ideas, and publishes commentary on climate, economics, and financial-market analysis. His writings and project notes are collected on his website.
Howell is a member of several organizations, including the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society, the International Neural Network Society, the John Chappell Natural Philosophy Society, the Friends of Science Society, and Electric Universe groups.