Team:UrbanTundra Edmonton/Collaborations
Collaborations
UAlberta iGEM
As both of our teams were working within the same institution, our team was able to work extensively under the guidance of the uAlberta iGEM team. Their team was very helpful in a number of portions of our project, most notably in the InterLab study. We gave the uAlberta team our InterLab parts from our kit plate, as they had a few unsuccessful transformations for a select number of the InterLab parts. In turn, after successfully transforming the remaining parts, the uAlberta team gave us purified plasmids of the InterLab parts, giving our team an easier time in doing our own transformations. As well, they gave us access to their plate reader, which was integral to completing our InterLab study. All throughout the season, the uAlberta team has also provided us general mentorship in the form of lab training, help with troubleshooting our transformations, running diagnostic gels with us, and being open for discussion whenever we needed them.
iGEM TEC CEM
As both of our teams were working within the same institution, our team was able to work extensively under the guidance of the uAlberta iGEM team. Their team was very helpful in a number of portions of our project, most notably in the InterLab study. We gave the uAlberta team our InterLab parts from our kit plate, as they had a few unsuccessful transformations for a select number of the InterLab parts. In turn, after successfully transforming the remaining parts, the uAlberta team gave us purified plasmids of the InterLab parts, giving our team an easier time in doing our own transformations. As well, they gave us access to their plate reader, which was integral to completing our InterLab study. All throughout the season, the uAlberta team has also provided us general mentorship in the form of lab training, help with troubleshooting our transformations, running diagnostic gels with us, and being open for discussion whenever we needed them.
The iGEM TEC CEM team was very helpful in the Human Practices portion of our project. Through online video chats, we discussed possible avenues to broaden our scope and consider more perspectives in Human Practices. They suggested presenting to schools in order to engage our local community, as well as to see where perchlorate contamination may exist in our own community.
geekStarter Workshop
On June 10, 2017, MindFuel’s geekStarter graciously hosted an event where teams sponsored by geekStarter were able to gather together, present their projects, and receive critical feedback from a panel of expert judges. Hosted at Notre Dame Collegiate High School, we were able to witness the presentations of innovative projects from other high schools, as well as present our own.
The next day, we got in touch with other iGEM teams at geekStarter’s iGEM meet-up, hosted at the University of Calgary. The UAlberta, Lethbridge, Lethbridge HS, and Calgary iGEM teams were present at the event. With the other teams, we were able to discuss a few of our problems and hear about the other team's progress'. Overall we had a newfound sense of direction for our project and had been invigorated towards starting the next step of our iGEM journey.
aGEM
In the final preparations for the iGEM 2017 Giant Jamboree, five geekStarter teams from across Alberta gathered for aGEM 2017, hosted by geekStarter, which occurred from September 23-24 at the University of Alberta. Again, our team was grateful to have been able to experience an event like aGEM. The iGEM teams present at the event were UAlberta, Calgary, Lethbridge and Lethbridge HS. We were able to practice presenting our work in a fully supportive environment, and also gained invaluable feedback. Furthermore, we gained insight into how other high school and undergraduate teams approached their project within the context of iGEM.
