Team:SZU-China/HP/Silver
HUMAN PRACTICE - SILVER
Overview
SZU-China iGEM’s multifaceted approach to tackling concrete cracks is innovative and unique. In order to facilitate the development of our novel ideas, we have spent each stage of our project visiting and interacting with experts in the field, adjusting design carefully with the feedback of current civil engineering experts in mind. On the whole journey of iGEMer's practice, we have also experienced team work for fun, regional conference for project communication and instruction,. All of these works outside the lab broaden the possibility and creativity of our original idea.
ABOUT SAFETY CONCERNS
To fully condsider the application of our "self-repairing concrete" in the real world, we came to attend the workshop attend the synthetic Biology Regulation Workshop in HKUST
We first attended the lectures on overview of gene drive system and Ethical, legal and regulatory issues of gene drive. It was given by professor Kenneth A.Oye from MIT and professor King.L.Chow from HKUST. It was very rewarding and we also asked two professors some questions on bio-safety of our project during the tea break. And we really appreciated the advice.
During this workshop, we discussed the wetlab operation safety and the further risk invoving in synbio bacteria functioning in real world. The professor first gave positive review on the low risk of Bacillus Subitilis operation, providing us the basic risk level measurement for experiement. After discussing our novel 'concrete' idea with them, they suggested that several bacterial embedding situation should be paid more attention to, such as their pressure endurability, the bactreial dispersion risk. Based on their own long-term research experience, we got inspired to help improve our design
Exploring the feasibility of application for real world
Thinking about the application of our project in real world, we interviewed certein experts on Civil Engineering for suggestions and even investigated several buildings in different areas. We are engaged in exploring the feasibility of our self-repairing concrete in real world.
Interviews with professors from College of Civil Engineering
This year our project is about concrete self-healing. So we think it is pretty essential to seek advice from the professionals. In order to do this we did interviews with 3 professors of College of Civil Engineering from Shenzhen University.
We put the answers of three professors together and summarized them as follow:
Professor XIANFENG WANG:
Main research area: Self-healing concrete material. Durability of civil engineering materials. Etc.
Member of JSCE; RILEM; IALCCE.
ProfessorYAOCHENG WANG:
Main research area: Durability of civil engineering materials. Etc.
Professor NINGXU HAN:
Main research area: Civil engineering structures. Durability of civil engineering materials. Etc.
Editorial member of ICE Journal of Forensic Engineering; Member of RILEM;
- The key questions involves all of the following:
-
Q1: On which public construction do you think the cracks happens the most.
A1: Bridges and tunnels. You cannot find a single bridge or tunnel without any cracks. Cracks happen all the times. When it comes to tunnel, the cracks will cause leak which is really annoying.
-
Q2: What kind of mature techniques can be used to fix the cracks of concrete nowadays?
A2: Grouting method is the one. Using high pressure to pump the Inorganic cement or other kind of adhesive into the cracks and wait for it to become solid so the cracks can be blocked. But it won’t be a onetime thing you might have to do over constantly.
-
Q3: We’ve read about Hendrik Jonkers from Technische Universiteit Delft has already invented a type of bio-concrete. Some says our project is so similar to his, What do you think of this.
A3: Actually he is my friend and what you are doing is actually a very different thing. First, Hendrik’s bio-concrete is not self-healing like yours. His bio-concrete needs to be brushed on. Second he didn’t use the technique of microcapsule to protect his bacterium but you do. And actually I think he will be very interested in your project because you use synthetic biology to promote your bacterium in a certain way. I mean who wouldn’t want that？
-
Q4：Will there be any new invention of material that will take the place of concrete?
A4: No, I don’t think so. There are more and more outstanding new materials being invented. But none of them can take the place of concrete. Because concrete is common and cheap. And sometimes what we need is the volume. For example, when we are building a dam. We need large amount of concrete to add up to a certain volume. Nothing else is better than concrete in this kind of situation. So I don’t think it can be replaced.
Investigate the longest Bridge in the world
We came to investigate the longest grand bridge - Honkong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and interview the chief engineers there.
Professor XIANFENG WANG:
Main research area: Self-healing concrete material. Durability of civil engineering materials. Etc.
Member of JSCE; RILEM; IALCCE.
- The key questions of the interview is presented as following:
-
Q1: How tough is it to build the HONGKONG-ZHUHAI-MACAO Bridge?
A1: There is not a specific level to evaluate it. But the difficulty is highly depending on the environment. The construction environment for HONGKONG-ZHUHAI-MACAO BRIDGE is pretty harsh. It is in open seas beyond the coast. The ocean environment and geology is pretty complicated. What’s more, the area is our country’s protection zone for White Dolphin. And the HONGKONG-ZHUHAI-MACAO BRIDGE is consist of different constructions-bridges, subbottom tunnel, man-made island etc. So I’d say it’s one of the hardest.
-
Q2: What is the critical key to prolong the life of the HONGKONG-ZHUHAI-MACAO BRIDGE?
A2: HONGKONG-ZHUHAI-MACAO BRIDGE is mainly consisting of steel reinforced concrete. Steel is something that we are familiar with. There are a lot of previous case proved great uses of steel which can last 200 years. But concrete on the other hand, is a new born material compared to steel. It is less than a hundred years not to mention the years it’s being put into use of great constructions. Thus enhancing the life of concrete is the critical key to prolong the life of the HONGKONG-ZHUHAI-MACAO BRIDGE. The cracks are the biggest threats to concrete. So what we should do is to prevent and fix the cracks.
-
Q3: After the HONGKONG-ZHUHAI-MACAO BRIDGE been put into use what measure will be taken to fix the cracks?
A3: Let’s categorize them into three kinds. The first one is slow cracks: they happened slowly and infect long term; second is structural cracks: this kind of cracks happens when there is unexpected struck; Third is the cracks come from expansion and contraction. When they stir the concrete water will react with it and start to heat. So when it cools down, there will be cracks from contraction. If the crack is less than 2mm, we will brush a closing layer on the surface. If it is bigger than 2mm, we will use high pressure to pump the Inorganic cement or other kind of adhesive into the cracks which we call concrete injection.
-
Q4：How do you detect the micro cracks?
A4: There are many techniques being used around the world nowadays. For example, high definitions photograph.
-
Q5：What do you think of our project this year?
A4: It certainly represent the future, it can be used on many aspects of multiple constructions. I just wish that this doesn’t stop in the lab. I hope it can be put into use as soon as possible.
Research and questionnaire on buildings in the village
To further consider the feasibility of our idea applying into human life, we set off for some traditional village asking for their feedback. On September 23th and 24th, 2017, we visited Chendian Village, Chaonan District, Shantou, Guangdong, and conducted surveys, questionnaires, interviews to the local resident. See the QUESTIONAIRE here.
According to the questionaire, many residents here still keep the traditional layout and ornament. In addition to the living place for a dozen of people, a family will also leave special rooms for ancestor and God worship. Chaoshan people have their own unique understanding about family and clan, which is sometimes expressed in their houses. Generally, they hope the house built by themselves can be passed down from generation to generation, yet they also worry about the house quality. Due to the climate and terrain conditions, the residences built with traditional techniques are easy to have cracks on the walls. According to our investigation, cracks occur on nearly 60 percent of the houses, and even on those built three years ago.
When we introduced those new material to them, they were absolutely delighted. Some people think that this project is awesome because it not only makes restoration but also achieves “prevention”, which gives them much sense of security. Others realize that it is a combination of society and nature, which makes them get closer to nature. Some people believe that the application of this new material improves the service life and stability of architecture, yet meanwhile doesn’t affect their artistic value. In this way, Chaoshan people still can decorate their walls and beams with gorgeous paintings and carvings.
It can be expected that, in the future, if they apply this new material, the service life of house will be greatly extended to offer shield for the people of a family, and to keep their memories as well. Those delicate decorations will remain for a longer time.
REGIONAL TEAM CONFERENCE
To promote better communication in teams, every year, igem teams in China will take part in conferences where we give presentation and get advice from the others. This year, wondefully, we even held one conference for 9 teams by ourselves.
South-China Conference
Thanks to the ideas from SCUT-China iGEM team. We managed to held the first iGEM Southern China Regional Meeting in our school. Nine teams Participated in the event. Each team had a 20min’s presentation and 10min’s Q&A time. We all took it seriously and asked a lot of questions. It was a great opportunity for all the teams to widen their vision especially when it was April and all the mistakes can be corrected. SZU-China not only organized the event well. We also prepared a bag of souvenir for each of the participant.
In-depth communication with THU & BIT-China in Beijing
SZU-China iGEM team went to Beijing this summer. We shared our projects in detail with THU&BIT-China. We paid a visit to BIT’s labs. And had in-depth communicate about the management and inherit of iGEM teams. The friendship we got is the best treasure.
China Regional High School Meeting
We did a presentation and answered a lot of questions. And we also gave some advice to high school iGEMers.
Conference of China iGEM's Community
SZU-China iGEM team went to Fuzhou to take part in the 4th CCiC held by FAFU with posters and presentations. We received a lots of new questions from iGEM teams all over China. It was pretty rewarding and communicates has broadened our horizon.
CREATE A COMMUNITY PLATFORM ONLINE
We want to build a website that provides a chance to communicate. Good ideas always been discovered during constant sharing and discussing. You can always find people benefiting from this in the corridor of university or even back to the era of ancient Greek. And that is why we found Corridor, a place where communication would not stop, with the infinite discovered of genius ideas.
Corridor has some different features, one of these is the community of iGEMers. You can either glance through some practical report or participate in an enjoyable debate on the biosafety issue. You can also find some useful tips that provided by some elder members of iGEM team. Anyway, please feel free to exchange your ideas with others.
We’ve also settle a special page-----Memory, when you first look at it. It’s just a calendar. And each iGEMer can draft something down in the exact date on the calendar by words or picture, even emoji! We believe after the accumulation of this diary-like report, people can find some precious memory together with some experiences. That, is another meaningful feature.
It was after the tour of CCIC of 2017, when we were in the middle of flight, we believe that it is really significant for every iGEMers to know about some different projects and of course some new minds from synthetic biology. But CCIC can only fulfill this once a year, lasting for 3 days, which is apparently too limited compared to the questions that we want an answer. So, why don’t we make it easier and more efficient? And that is how Corridor first came to be. What really interesting is, this idea came from discussion, again! And I can still remember how excited we were about the plan of making such a website in the airport, just like the way we dedicate ourselves making it.
Of course there are a lot of problems need to be solved. Currently we want to make sure the iGEM teams from other countries can also visit our website. And we plan to launch the app in the next year, with a shinny project plan: Corridor 2.0! We want to ask for some integration with iGEM and some other synthetic companies. Anyway, we are working our way up and we believe CORRIDOR will be benefiting all the iGEMers in the short future.Of course there are a lot of problems need to be solved. Currently we want to make sure the iGEM teams from other countries can also visit our website. And we plan to launch the app in the next year, with a shinny project plan: Corridor 2.0! We want to ask for some integration with iGEM and some other synthetic companies. Anyway, we are working our way up and we believe CORRIDOR will be benefiting all the iGEMers in the short future.We’ve also settle a special page-----Memory, when you first look at it. It’s just a calendar. And each iGEMer can draft something down in the exact date on the calendar by words or picture, even emoji! We believe after the accumulation of this diary-like report, people can find some precious memory together with some experiences. That, is another meaningful feature.
See what CORRIDOR is like here.
TEAM WORK - BUBBLE RUN
Bubble run is known as the happiest 5km in the world and this year the money that raised by bubble run will be helping the 250million kids with congenital heart disease in China. So when Bubble run comes to our city. SZU-China iGEM didn’t hesitate to be a part of it. It was a great opportunity for the team members to know each other better. And we are really glad that we can help the kids in need. And we even drew our team’s name on the back of the bubble run T-shirt.
