Team:UIUC-Illinois/Notebook/MeetingNotes

From 2012.igem.org

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<textarea rows="30" wrap="soft">iGEM Weekly Meeting – Sunday, February 19, 2012
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iGEM advisors meeting
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Present: Cara, Adi, Uros, Bob, Asha, Amanda, Will, Isaiah, Angela
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Advisors: Dr. Jim, Todd, Courtney Evans (Lab manager), Brad Evans (post-doc), Dr.
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Bhalerao
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Agenda:
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- Team formed in 2007, first competition in 2008 (four competitions)
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- Discussion: do we want to create a computational team? Involve open
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recruitment or connections. One of the teams at the finals had a
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computational team that created an evolutionary model of gene dynamics.
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(Prof. Bhalerao involved heavily in the computational side)
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o Bhalerao – it shouldn’t be done if it’s not 110%
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- The pep talk: Don’t lose commitment, you are chosen to represent Illinois.
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Don’t quit and do your job.
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o Bring it on!
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o Watch past presentations to realize the level of competition that we’re
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facing. They’re mind blowing.
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- 2 aspects to this experience: the synthetic biology (the idea, the research, the
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quality of the physical project), marketing (broad vision, best presentation, a
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sense of a dynamic vision is important, the judges like videos!)
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- Understanding synthetic biology: this is the big idea, understand it before
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anything else. Cut through the jargon. Take advantage of its flexibility.
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o When presenting to the judges, need to let them know that we’re doing
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synthetic biology, not nanobiology.
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- Meet with the advisors regularly to keep on track.
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Summary of Advisor’s labs:
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- Dr. Jin: Doing yeast and e. coli metabolic engineering. Engineer a pathway to
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create a phenotype of interest. All projects are about genetic manipulation
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and perturbation (also some environmental perturbation) in order to produce a
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phenotype faster, easier, cheaper. Will learn genetic manipulation, how to
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culture the cell in large scale and small scale (fermentation/bioreactors), mass
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spect to analyze the metabolic product. Also some computation in order to
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analyze results (but not a good idea to focus on in this time frame of 2-3
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months).
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- Dr. Bhalerao: Pathogenic research. What happens to the stress response of
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the cell and the cell’s evolution in response to a metabolic engineering/gene
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circuit that you have put in the cell? Well it’s hard, so you look at evolution on
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the population scale. Can we control the evolution of the bug? If we so we
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can build better vaccines or harness these bugs for more work. (Example:
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can we control the evolution of pesticide resistant bugs?) Project:
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bacteriophage system. How does system change under different stresses?
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It’s complex to measure, so can we genetically modify these bacteria to
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visually tell us things? Will learn genetic manipulation, mathematical
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modeling, evolutionary genomics.
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- MMG (Brad Evans, Todd, Courtney): help contruct a series of vectors that
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will put tags onto the e.coli genome that will tease out their functions. How
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can we figure out what this protein does and how it does it? VERY iGem
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applicable.
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- Dr. Rao: similar to Dr. Jin, chemotaxis, as well.
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iGEM Weekly Meeting – Sunday, February 19, 2012
Getting card access to IGB
Getting card access to IGB
- Take 3 safety quizzes online (Angela will send out the link)
- Take 3 safety quizzes online (Angela will send out the link)
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- Brad: Cara
- Brad: Cara
- Rao: Divya, Asha
- Rao: Divya, Asha
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<textarea rows="30" wrap="soft">iGEM meeting minutes from 2/26/12
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iGEM meeting minutes from 2/26/12
- We watched the first 13:00 min of this video about Imperial College of London
- We watched the first 13:00 min of this video about Imperial College of London
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ushmgPM7HT8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ushmgPM7HT8
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competition- don’t need to be intricate to win
competition- don’t need to be intricate to win
o we should take some hints from them!</textarea>
o we should take some hints from them!</textarea>
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iGEM Meeting Minutes
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3/4/12
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Announcements:
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Publicity - Divya
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- Everyone needs to sign up for an EOH shift on the google doc. Melissa and
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IGB have been contacted about equipment for a PowerPoint, posters, and 2
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computers. An iGEM flyer is being made for EOH.
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- IGB fellows: a research symposium where 2 people will present a poster to
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IGB scientists. We will need people to cover shifts throughout the day. This is
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in a professional setting. Last year’s E. Chiver project will be presented.
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Social Chair - Cara
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- Everyone get excited for EOH! Social events will be planned after safety
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certification and EOH is done. A good idea is to do something before spring
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break.
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Corporate – Adi
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- Next week, a meeting with Courtney and Melissa will take place. Bob will
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accompany Adi to discuss getting funding for the website.
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Secretary - Asha
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- EOH posters will be worked on after this general meeting. Cara and Asha will
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be going to the first Engineering Council meeting this Wednesday evening.
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Lab Manager - Isiah
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- Lab work for EOH has been worked on by Angela. Last year’s project is still
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under consideration as to whether or not it will be included for EOH.
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- It is important for everyone to have access to IGB to come into the lab.
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Web Master - Bob
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- Bob has been looking at old wiki setups and has contacted David Chen from
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last year to help with this.
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- There will be the wiki page for project results and a different iGEM website for
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publicity and information. The judges only see the wiki. Another option is for
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the wiki to be hosted off of our own website.
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- Learning python would help with Tinker Cell. When we decide what we want
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to model, we can start looking at what we specifically need to learn of python.
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Treasurer - Anthony
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- Needs to receive the account number from the last year’s treasurer.
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Vice President – Uros
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- Everyone needs to complete the EOH training and print the safety inspection
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sheet in order to be ready for the Friday morning safety check.
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- Everyone also needs to meet with Courtney to complete the IGB safety
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training.
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President - Angela
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- Next advisor’s meeting is Tuesday, March 6, 3-4 PM at IGB. We will be
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discussing why last year’s team was not fully successful.
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- Next Sunday, Angela will go over the E. Chiver project from last year. And
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every Sunday someone will go over another project.
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- Next week’s article: “A sensing array of radically coupled genetic ‘biopixels’.”
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It will be presented by Uros.
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Discussion:
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1) Safety quizzes and IGB keys
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a. Keys are not working after hours or during the weekend. This problem has
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been brought up to Courtney.
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b. This Tuesday Adi, Bob, Anthony, and Asha will meet with Courtney to
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complete their safety training.
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c. So far only Cara, Uros, and Isiah have an IGB key.
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d. Procedure:
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d.i. Take all three safety quizzes
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d.ii. Go to Courtney for 30min IGB specific safety presentation
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d.iii. Get the access paper signed by Courtney (can ask her for a copy)
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d.iv. Go to 1st floor of Gatehouse to the front desk, tell them you are
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iGEM and need access
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d.v. Pay the $8.50 and get a receipt
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d.vi. Take your receipt to the Union Bookstore on Wright, go to id center
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in back
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d.vii. Tell them you need access to IGB and give them the receipt from
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the Gatehouse (be prepared to take a new id picture!)
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d.viii. Finally make sure you go to your residence hall front desk and get
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your new icard re-activated
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d.ix. Make sure your new icard will give you after-hours access, maybe
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go to IGB front doors after 5pm and see if you can swipe into the
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front doors
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2) New meeting Schedule
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a. General meeting: We will still meet every Sunday from 3-5. For the rest of
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the semester, the Chemistry Library will be our meeting place.
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b. Journal club: The journal club will meet every week after the general
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meeting. We have 5 papers that the advisors suggested we read.
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c. Advisor’s meeting: First advisors meeting will be this Tuesday, March 6th
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from 3-4 at the IGB.
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3) Has everyone contacted their lab advisor?
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a. If not, do that asap!
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4) EOH progress
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a. We will meet after this to familiarize ourselves with the presentation for
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EOH.
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b. Everyone needs to partner up with someone who knows the presentation,
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that way at EOH we are prepared.
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5) Journal Club (Presented by Anthony)
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a. “Synthetic biology: advancing biological frontiers by building biological
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systems”
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b. PowerPoint is attached to the email of these minutes.
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Agenda of Advisor Meeting
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3/6/2012
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Team Structure
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- President – Angela Chen
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- Vice President – Uros Kuzmanovic
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- Secretary – Asha Kirchhoff
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- Treasurer – Anthony Chau
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- Corporate Director – Adi Malik
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- Publicity Director – Divya Tankasala
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- Social Chair – Cara Schornak
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- Web master – Bob Chen
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- Lab Manager – Isiah Ramos
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- But it is everybody’s responsibility to contribute and direct themselves, as well
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as collaborate with all the others to make the project a success
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Team Operation
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- Meetings
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o Bi-weekly advisor’s meeting
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 Tuesday from 3-4 PM
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o Weekly general meeting
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 Keeping track on team operations
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 Discussion on one past project
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o Weekly Journal club
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- Recent Activities
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o Participated in E-week events
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o Preparing for Engineering Open House
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 In order to use this in the human practices part of our project,
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we will video tape people’s opinions on synthetic biology, video
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tape the exhibit, and count the number of people we interacted
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with
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 A short edited video can then be used for the human practices
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part of our website
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 Overall, the responsibilities of human practices falls to Divya,
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Cara, and Asha
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o Completed safety quizzes
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 Make sure Courtney has a copy of your completed safety
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quizzes! This is absolutely necessary to do before you get your
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IGB card access.
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o Started Journal club on March 4
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 Important to critically examine the articles, not just read them.
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We have to sharpen our critical thinking. We also should read
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review articles for every paper.
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o Started project discussion – 2011 U of Washington and Imperial
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College London
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o Started Bootcamp in each lab
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 Every week everyone should share what they are learning in
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bootcamp. This will lead to brainstorming.
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o Presented E. Chiver project in the 2012 Institute of Biological
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Engineering on March 2
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 Angela and Jaimie recreated the old presentation so that it was
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more suitable to a symposium. The presentation was filmed, so
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it will be sent to all of the advisors.
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Discussion
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- Bi-weekly meeting with advisors
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o What do we discuss in this meeting?
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 Present our ideas for projects to the advisors so they can give
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us an indication of how we are progressing and if our plans are
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viable.
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o Introduction to Prof. Liu of Bioengineering as one of our advisors.
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- Team Operation
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o Would identifying a topic in the first week of summer be too late?
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o Brainstorming
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 Rules:
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· No idea is bad. Especially for the first 2 weeks, there
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should be no filter. Everyone should have the chance to
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speak.
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· After a few weeks start editing the ideas. Check
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iGEM.org to make sure that no one has done our idea
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before. This is also another good resource to check and
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see what type of projects went well and why.
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o Dr. Bhalerao advises to skip looking at the past projects of UIUC iGEM
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or other iGEM teams. Courtney agrees that we will never be proficient
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in synthetic biology, so it’s important to just come up with good ideas
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(which is the hard part). Looking at past presentations and projects is
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what we should all do individually, not at the meeting.
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o Our project should be feasible, something we enjoy, and something
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really cool. Our presentation should also be able to market and
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capitalize our idea, as well as convince everyone that it is better and
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more exciting than anything else.
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o Look at our old past projects and see if we can finish any or do any
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better.
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- Team Collaboration
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o Is collaborating with the University of Michigan team, or others,
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feasible?
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 Try to build bridges with as many teams as possible. That way
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we have as many options as possible. These contacts need to
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be made soon.
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 Our collaboration can be pooling human practices, sharing data
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or technology, or even sharing a project. It is possible to actually
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collaborate on the same project, especially if one lab blind tests
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the other’s idea, or one team plans and the other executes.
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- iGEM registration
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o Registration is now open. Do we have an iGEM account?
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 Yes.
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o Can we join iGEM – Entrepreneurship?
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 A good idea, ultimately we do want our project to be applicable
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in real life.
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 We need to acquire an additional advisor from the business
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school. Try Kathy Baylis in Agriculture/Consumer economics.
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She is a friend of Dr. Bhalerao’s and her husband is a professor
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in the business school.
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 Dr. Bhalerao thinks we should pursue the economic models
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track.
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 This has the same registration deadline as the normal iGEM
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competition, which is March 31.
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- Funding Sources
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o Where do we find funding sources?
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 We start from scratch every year. The only one that is
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guaranteed is IGB. We should start early.
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 Funding went well last year; we’re starting with $15,000. But we
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should knock on all doors.
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o Should the corporate director and president talk with the IGB director?
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 Yes, make a formal appointment and have an impressive
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presentation. Dress down for it and make them give you money.
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 Also, make a brochure for iGEM 2012 and then go and talk to all
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the heads of all the Colleges. We can print it on nice glossy
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paper for free at IGB. Our brochure should contain as specific
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as a project idea as possible. We want to let everyone know that
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we plan to deliver. Also market that we want to join the
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Entrepreneurship competition this year.
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 Also, contact Peter Fox. He owns the land that is Research
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Park. Also contact Scott Pilkins, the director of Research Park.
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Illinois Ventures in particular is one we should talk to. Steven
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Slyger from Nanodisk at Research Park.
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o In May, we will all need to fill out a form for travel reimbursements
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($700).
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- Server
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o Do we have a server for the iGEM website?
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 We do, Dr. Bhalerao has it in his office.
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 We would be able to secure $100 for a high quality website from
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Adi’s Chicago web developer contact. But we should make sure
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it has dynamic contact. It it’s just static, we shouldn’t spend the
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money, and we should just use a template.
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- 2011 iGEM project
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o Why didn’t we advance to the international competition?
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 There was no data uploaded. It was a human error. A lot of
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people liked the idea, but there wasn’t enough data and
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characterization to show the judges.
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 The idea was too complex, the execution was poor. The project
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never really came together, it had no final polish.
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 This year the goal is to ADVANCE.
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o How should we manage time/human resources to complete a winning
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project?
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 Towards the end of the project, everyone needs to continually
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be checking and double checking that everything is correct and
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has been submitted.
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 We really don’t want to let our wiki go until the last minute.
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Ideally it should be created over a long amount of time.
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 We also really want to focus on our presentation. We should
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memorize it, but then make it seem effortless.
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 Things that stand out: great idea, great execution, and obvious
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team chemistry.
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Revision as of 19:22, 19 June 2012

Header

Protocols

Meeting Notes

Pre-May

  • 2/19/12
  • 2/26/12
  • 3/3/12
  • 3/6/12
  • 3/7/12
  • 3/11/12
  • 3/25/12
  • 3/27/12

    • May-June

  • 2/19/12
  • 2/26/12
  • 3/3/12
  • 3/6/12
  • 3/7/12
  • 3/11/12
  • 3/25/12
  • 3/27/12

    • June-July

  • 2/19/12
  • 2/26/12
  • 3/3/12
  • 3/6/12
  • 3/7/12
  • 3/11/12
  • 3/25/12
  • 3/27/12

    • July-August

  • 2/19/12
  • 2/26/12
  • 3/3/12
  • 3/6/12
  • 3/7/12
  • 3/11/12
  • 3/25/12
  • 3/27/12

    • August-Jamboree

  • 2/19/12
  • 2/26/12
  • 3/3/12
  • 3/6/12
  • 3/7/12
  • 3/11/12
  • 3/25/12
  • 3/27/12

    • Select a date to read respective meeting notes.


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