Team:RHIT/Current Team

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Undergraduates

  • Robert French a.k.a. “Bobby”
    Bobby and Alex are responsible for the major design of this year’s project. Many of the major finds were done through the combination of their efforts. Robert is a Senior Chemical Engineer with a second major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He has made a name for himself for being the team member to ask about procedure and process for the project. In his spare time, Bobby enjoys blacksmithing. If he had more spare time, he would also enjoy growing sideburns and sleeping.

  • Ben Deschaine a.k.a. "Big Ben"
    Ben is a Senior Biomedical Engineer who acts as our team leader. He’s the first one to speak up for the team and diffuses tension when necessary. He dabbles a little bit in all areas of the project and ties them together. He always has valuable input and constructive criticism. During the team's trip to the iGEM High School competition, Ben heroically defended the honor of the trophy (even when a team member betrayed him by trying to steal it) while the presentations were going on. He is the holder of the coveted title “Best Youtube Video While on Break."

  • Alex Krug a.k.a. “Krug”
    Alex is the counterpart to the Synthetic Design team. He is a Senior Biochemist that has done work with Synthetic Biology before. With the help of Bobby, they found many of the breakthroughs that made this project possible. He has nearly perfected his technique of analyzing papers and proving their relevance towards the project. Krug is best known for proposing ideas and then having them shot down by Bobby, but we still love him anyway.

  • Devon Trumbauer a.k.a. “Team Mom”
    Devon is a Senior Biomedical Engineer who dabbles in computer graphics and would have been a graphic designer if not an engineer. She's a jack-of-all-trades, serving in positions ranging from designer of the team logo to editor of the wiki. Devon also spearheaded the exhibit for the Children's Museum and is excited to bring something new to the museum. As team mom, she brings cupcakes in to work, organizes meetings when no one else wants to, and is generally nit-picky about lots of things. Devon also loves cats.

  • Kristen Schackmann a.k.a. “Miss Maya”
    Kristen is a Junior Biomedical Engineer who nominated herself as the team photographer. She has played a vital role in graphic design on the team and designed the team shirts. Kristen devoted a considerable amount of her time to learning the intricate workings of Molecular Maya in order to produce a video deomonstrating the molecular pathway. She's a master of communication and is always on the front lines when working with the media (we think it’s because of her bubbly personality.)

  • Adam Nighswander a.k.a. “NightHawk”
    Adam is a Junior Applied Biology/Computational Science major. He's the team’s go to man for coding, creating the MATLAB codon-optimizing program for the team. Adam, along with Bobby, is the leader of the lab initiative. Once classes started in the fall, Adam spent time in between classes checking on transformations and colonies. We think he might actually be living in the lab at this point. He is the strong silent type, only speaking when he has a point to make, something hilarious to say, or something about Minecraft.

Faculty Advisors

  • Dr. Ric Anthony
    Dr. Anthony specializes in molecular genetics and protein synthesis. His research focuses on the role ribosomal proteins play in maintaining the accuracy of translation and antibiotic resistance in yeast. He is also interested in new approaches to education in the biological sciences and is working hard to develop synthetic biology courses and an associated research collaborative here at Rose-Hulman. He also played a pivotal role in establishing our iGEM team and continues to be its primary champion.

  • Dr. Dave Goulet
    Dr. Goulet earned his PhD at Caltech by building mathematical models of the map-kinase signaling pathway in c. elegans. He is generally interested in mathematical modeling of communication between developing cells and has recently been modeling size-exclusion chromatography and dimer exchange assays for estrogen receptor protein. Dr. Goulet is also an avid rock climber (mainly bouldering) and the faculty advisor for the Rose-Hulman Climbing Club.

  • Dr. Yosi Shibberu
    Dr. Shibberu is originally from Ethiopia. His degrees are in mathematics and electrical engineering, but his attraction to synthetic biology brought him to the iGEM team. This summer, Dr. Shibberu, along with Dr. Anthony, attended the GCAT SynBio workshop at HHMI’s Janelia Farms Research Campus. His current interests are structural bioinformatics, the estrogen receptor, and hidden Markov modeling. Dr. Shibberu is currently working his way toward becoming a paperless professor!
  • The Rose-Hulman iGEM team is proud and excited to announce AIT Bioscience as our generous sponsor and primary supporter. This expert contract research organization provides quantitative bioanalytical support for pre-clinical and Phase I through Phase III clinical trials.

  • Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology provided the laboratory and work spaces for the iGEM team, as well as providing on-campus housing for the students.

  • MathWorks provided software for use by iGEM teams in their projects. The software package includes MATLAB and SimBiology, a computational systems biology tool ideal for modeling the processes studied in iGEM projects.

  • AutoDesk is another sponsor of iGEM teams. Autodesk's software Molecular Maya allows users to build and animate molecular structure models and is being utilized by the team to animate the kinase pathway.

    • Acknowledgements

    Special thanks go out to the supporters and contributors of the RHIT iGEM Team: Sam Harris, Devon's boyfriend, for advising on and troubleshooting the RHIT wiki; Michael Schackmann, Kristen's father, for constructing the exhibit tables for the Terre Haute Children’s Museum; and Susan Nighswander, Adam's mother, for coordinating the production of the team shirts and providing the team with a cake for Adam's birthday.

    Team Member Attributions

    • Although all of the team members were active in the different parts of the project, everyone spearheaded these smaller sections of the project.
    • Ben Deschaine created the board game.
    • Bobby French designed much of the construct, including the promoter, was involved in lab work, and wrote parts of the wiki.
    • Alex Krug designed much of the construct and created the mathematical model.
    • Adam Nighswander did the majority of the lab work and wrote the Matlab program for codon optimization.
    • Kristen Schackmann created the Maya video and helped develop the Children’s Museum exhibit idea.
    • Devon Trumbauer created graphics, designed and edited the wiki, and headed the creation of the Children’s Museum exhibit.
    • Dr. Ric Anthony assisted in designing the construct and in the lab work, and coordinated the NTNU collaboration.
    • Dr. Dave Goulet assisted in the mathematical modeling.
    • Dr. Yosi Shibberu assisted in the planning process.

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