Circlo Podcast

I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Juan Carlos Bello.

We shared a thoughtful podcast-style conversation in which he educated me — and will hopefully educate you — on a range of topics.

The purpose of this interview was simple: to grow both personally and technically.

I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Juan Carlos Bello. We shared a wonderful podcast-style conversation in which he educated me — and hopefully will educate you — on a range of topics. From the start, it felt like speaking with someone rare: a professor who is genuinely human, deeply thoughtful, and sincerely invested in his students. He listens with intention, asks the right questions, and makes you feel that your ideas matter. There is something grounding about talking to him — a mix of calm, depth, and curiosity that encourages you to think beyond the obvious.

He is the kind of teacher who wants you to experience engineering fully: to understand, explore, and create with purpose. Working with him, whether in class or in research, never feels intimidating; instead, he guides you with both clarity and kindness. He makes the lab feel like a place where ideas are welcome, where mistakes are part of learning, and where curiosity is something to be protected. Students enjoy being around him because he participates as another mind in the room — someone who challenges you but also supports you.

Dr. Juan Carlos Bello is an accomplished professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey, the biomechanics concentration coordinator, and the major director of biomedical engineering. He has published work across multiple areas and projects that are among the first of their kind in Mexico. But what stands out even more than his achievements is his character: his humility, his intellectual honesty, and his belief that thinking — truly thinking — matters in a world that often prefers quick, easy answers. Conversations with him always leave you better than before.

To guide this interview, I divided our conversation into three sections: Engineering, Personal, and Future.

In this article, I focus on the Engineering section. Circlo stands on the idea of becoming a better human engineer — someone who connects, empathizes, and understands human needs while creating with intention. This section highlights the research and projects Dr. Bello has developed and continues to pursue, always through the lens of linking engineering with our human side.

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Exploring Biomechanics and Beyond

 

He approaches this research from two standpoints: instrumentation and physiology. Now he is invovled with werables: sensors that integrate with the body and help monitor the athlete or patient by capturing different physiological and movement-related variables. By analyzing these movement patterns, he aims to better understand an athlete’s physical capacity and performance. He also mentions a more clinical line of research, where they use motion capture systems to evaluate gait in patients who have undergone knee arthroplasty. In this project, they not only track how the patient’s walking evolves over time but are also interested in estimating the durability and useful life of the knee prosthesis, depending on how it was implanted and its quality.

Following that response, I asked why he became interested in the field of biomechanics, as most of his research and projects are focused on that area. 

He explains that while studying biomedical engineering and he became passionate about instrumentation, especially the application of electronics in medical devices. Later, during his master’s and PhD studies, he was exposed more deeply to biomechanics and realized how it brings together physics, physiology, anatomy, instrumentation, and signal processing — a clear example of what biomedical engineering truly is. This multidisciplinary nature of biomechanics caught his attention. His connection with the area strengthened even more when the first biomechanics concentration was created at Tecnológico de Monterrey campus Guadalajara, which he had the opportunity to coordinate. That experience marked the moment he fully immersed himself in the field.

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Complex Problems, Human-Centered Solutions

 

Dr. Juan Carlos Bello begins by clarifying that every project in biomedical engineering is complex — and I completely agree. So in order to respond he shifted toward the most ambitious research he is working on now. This research aims to build an integral understanding of human performance and motion — not only evaluating heart rate (common and already well explored), but also physiological variables that are not measured daily, such as EMG.

While heart rate can be measured with a smartwatch, there are other variables we do not track daily even though they could provide valuable insights to doctors. If we dig deeper into them, we could eventually use them more meaningfully. He hopes to include more physiological — and perhaps neurological — variables to create a comprehensive human profile. Using tools such as machine learning and wearables, he aims to gather daily or monthly measurements from patients and detect patterns that indicate their health status. Regarding obstacles, since this area involves many professionals — doctors, physiotherapists, athletes, engineers — one of the necessary skills is becoming a polyglot in technical languages.

As I sensed his excitement while he explained how fascinating it is to combine knowledge from different fields to achieve a common goal — a reason why many enter biomedical or bioengineering — I asked if his favorite moments were those collaborative exchanges, or if he has other favorite moments from his experience as a professor in biomechanics.

 He responded that he actually enjoys even more sharing these ideas with students. He enjoys teaching them about new problems, hearing how they think about resolving them, sharing his experience in the field, and making them come up with new ideas. He calls this “bouncing ideas.” He finds it rewarding to have students so interested and creative in the field.

He responded with a phrase that summarizes biomedical collaboration:

We cannot solve wide problems from a narrow area. - Dr. Juan Carlos Bello 

 Many professionals are involved in problem-solving in this field, but it requires an environment that connects everyone’s point of view and knowledge. That is the environment he feels greatly benefited by — a confident intellectual place where he is fascinated by others’ knowledge of separate fields that help solve a common problem.

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Take away

Speaking with Dr. Juan Carlos Bello made it clear that engineering is really about the people. Behind every signal measured, there is a human story — and expanding our view allows us to create solutions that genuinely improve lives.
 This section captures only part of our conversation, but it reflects a truth he embodies: understanding humans requires curiosity, collaboration, and the willingness to seek further than what’s common to see change. As you continue reading the next sections of this interview, I hope you feel as inspired as I did to explore the kind of engineering that listens, observes, and seeks to elevate the human experience.

For the next sections of the interview, we will talk about his personal development with regard to engineering and his creative workflow — a must-read. It was a fun question that gave us insights into how professionals from other scopes ideate. And lastly, we will talk further about the future of biomechanics and future projects.

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Of course, I still have a long way to go. This was my first time conducting and recording a one-on-one interview, and even though I often talk with the professor about these topics, the setting felt entirely different. I know I must improve my questions, reduce repetition, and elevate the overall quality of future interviews.

Still, I’m grateful I took this first step. The path only reveals itself once you decide to walk it.

We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience. — John Dewey