Team:USMA-West Point/Team
USMA-West_Point
TEAM
Welcome to the United States Military Academy (USMA)- West Point iGEM Team. Our team is composed primarily of USMA Cadets and Professors with the assistance from the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). Our team is interdisciplinary and collaborative to successful produce our final product, an Electronic Nose.
CDT Zach Andersen
Student Leader
CDT Jason Hug
Student Leader
Zach is a 1st Class Cadet at USMA in the Chemistry and Life Science Department with a focus in Life Science. While this is his first year on a research team, he hopes that his lab experience will be enhanced through classes at the Academy to provide benefit to the team.
Jason is a 1st Class Cadet at USMA in the Chemistry and Life Science Department with a focus in Life Science. Jason has been a member of this research team for a full year and looks forward to using his knowledge and experience on the project to build and lead the "e-Nose" team of well-rounded individuals.
CDT Alanna Appel
Student
CDT Payton Boylson
Student
Alanna is a 3rd Class Cadet at USMA in the Behavior and Life Science Department with a pre-Medicine track. She is new to research but looking forward to working on the project and gaining laboratory experience outside of class.
Payton is a 3rd Class Cadet at USMA in the Chemistry and Life Science Department. She spent 4 weeks as a USMA Liaison at NRL developing a new sensing system for the eNose Project. For this project she was amazed by the amount of engineering that was required in order to prepare experiments.
Rayonna Gordon
Student
CDT Liz Huuki
Student
Rayonna is a senior Biomedical Engineering major at North Carolina A&T State University who worked at the Naval Research Laboratory with several Cadets. Incorporating biology with engineering is what she aims to do as a career. This project has given her insight and helped develop her skills in combining biology with several different engineering disciplines.
Liz is a 3rd Class Cadet at USMA in the Chemistry and Life Science Department. For this project she has been working mainly with the individual plasmids, an aspect which really interests her and has helped her develop technical skills. She is very excited to be able to combine what she is learning in class with actual lab experience.
CDT Kylor Kiesewetter
Student
CDT Channa Mills
Student
Kylor is a 1st Class Cadet at USMA in the Chemistry and Life Science Department with a focus in Life Science. Kylor has significant research experience on biomaterials. He hopes to add a unique perspective while providing his leadership capabilities.
Channah is a 3rd Class Cadet at USMA in the Chemistry and Life Science Department with a focus in Chemical Engineering. For this project she has been working with the individual plasmids, an aspect which has helped her develop technical and laboratory skills by combining what she is learning in class with laboratory experience.
CDT Matt McDonough
Student
Winston Ou
Student
Matt is a 3rd Class Cadet at USMA in the Chemistry and Life Science Department with a focus in Life Science. He spent 4 weeks as a USMA Liaison at NRL developing a new sensing system for the eNose Project. He has worked mainly with the computer-aided design aspect of this project, but is looking forward to working on the bioengineering side of it.
Winston is a Junior at the University of California, Berkeley studying Chemical Engineering. He worked at the Naval Research Laboratory with several cadets where he shared his experience with the team. He enjoys the engineering aspect of the project, particularly designing everything and seeing it come to fruition.
CDT James Pruneski
Student
James is a 2nd Class Cadet at USMA in the Mathematical Sciences Department with a focus in Life Science. He spent time last year observing this project, but is looking forward to helping out with it this year.
2LT Ishmael Raheem
Advisor
2LT Dillon Macky
Advisor
2LT Macky is a recent graduate from USMA in Chemistry and Life Science. He branched in the medical corps where he is currently attending USUHS for a Medical Doctorate.
2LT Raheem is a recent graduate from USMA in Chemistry and Life Science. He branched in the medical corps where he is currently attending Virginia Technology University for a Medical Doctorate.
Dr. Ken Wickiser
Primary PI
Dr. Alex Mitropoulos
Primary PI
Dr. Wickiser is an Associate Professor at USMA in the Chemistry and Life Science Department and Director of Life Science. He received his PhD from Yale University in Molecular Biophysics and biochemistry. He has worked at USMA for over 10 years, where he was a graduate in 1992. Prior to his work at USMA, he served as a helicopter pilot as an officer in the US Army.
Dr. Mitropoulos is an Assistant Professor-Davies Fellow at USMA in the Chemistry and Life Science and Mathematical Sciences Departments. He received his PhD from Tufts University in Biomedical Engineering with an emphasis on nanomaterial and biosensing.
Dr. Kamil Woronowicz
Secondary PI
Dr. Russel K. Pirlo
Secondary PI
Dr. Woronowicz is an Assistant Professor in Chemistry and Life Science with a background in chemistry. He received his PhD from Yale University in Chemistry with an emphasis on characterization of aPP miniature proteins. He has worked at Harvard University as well as Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Dr. Pirlo is a Government Chief Technology Officer (gCTO) at the Advanced Tissue Biofabrication Manufacturing Innovation Institute at the Naval Research Laboratory. He received his PhD from Clemson University in Bioengineering. For the past 8 years he has been a Research Biologist at NRL.
Dr. Joel Gaston
Instructor
Dr. John Cave
Instructor
Dr. Gaston is an NRC Fellow at the Naval Research Laboratory with Dr. Pirlo with a background in biochemistry. He received his PhD from University of Wisconsin-Madison in Biomedical/Medical Engineering with an emphasis on extracellular matrix proteins for wound healing. He assisted with the development of the peristaltic sensing chamber for rapid exchange of media and sample volumes.
Dr. Cave is as Senior Scientist with a background in biochemistry. He received his PhD from UC Berkeley in Chemistry with an emphasis on structural biology. He has worked at Burke Medical Research Institute in the Department of Neurology and Neuroscience from Weill Medical College of Cornell University. He is an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, Brain and Mind Research Institute and Director for Neuronal Specification.
