Team:TUDelft/Main-Team
Lab Manager MSc Life Science & Technology Did you know that Aafke is highly sensitive for mint? Every time she brushes her teeth or chews gum she has to sneeze.
As the word Lab Manager already describes, I am responsible for everything that has to do with the lab. This involves designing the experiments, keeping track of the supplies and scheduling all lab activities.
The idea of running your own project from A to Z, including raising money and setting up a website is exciting. It allows you to put theory to practice. Particularly exciting, is the interdisciplinary aspect of the team, which allows you to create very inventive and innovative ideas and to really share your expertise.
Human Practises Manager BSc Life Science & Technology, MSc Science Communication Did you know Kimberly has the whole Harry Potter Lego collection? She was a huge fan of Harry Potter and was a creative kid that liked to create her own Harry Potter fantasy world while claiming all space in the rooms. She proudly stored her lego collection in a glass closet. Unfortunately, her HP castle collapsed after trying to move the closet. As Human Practices manager, I am responsible for the Integrated Human Practices (IHP), the education and the public engagement and the outreach. Considering IHP, it is my job to start dialogues with the different stakeholders and to adapt our project and final application accordingly. Also, I have have been working on education for synbio engineers with the project “How can engineers include relevance and responsibility in their design”. To engage and educate the public regarding synthetic biology, the team was present during several Science and Technology events, and multiple articles have appeared in the media. Helping team members to frame their scientific stories in a way everyone can understand, is one of my favourite activities.
I believe in synthetic biology and its the potential. However, synthetic biology cannot develop to its full potential without the integration of stakeholders- and societal values. My motivation is to flourish the iGEM project in a way that the project meets stakeholders- and societal values, and results in an applied synbio design with impact.
PR team, Lab team, Presentation team, Wiki team MSc Life Science & Technology Did you know that apparently her most interesting feature is her clumsiness? She recently managed to fracture her metatarsal (bone in your foot) by getting trapped underneath a metal tube of the motorcycle during her practice lessons. Said metal tube was there to prevent getting trapped... I guess that’s what they call irony...
As a part of the PR team, I am involved in the representation of iGEM during public events like the Museumnacht Leiden. Additionally, I spent my summer holidays realizing our idea in the lab. Finally, I gave a presentation during TEDx Delft and I am one of the presenters for the final presentation in Boston!
I saw iGEM as a great opportunity to develop myself in multiple ways, especially regarding independent work in the lab and presentational skills. iGEM is a perfect addition to the LST curriculum and forms a nice contrast with the large scale design project of this studies. Nevertheless, besides all its useful aspects, the new experiences and working in a motivated group of students is just also a lot of fun!
Medal Manager, PR Team BSc Nanobiology Did you know that Jeroen lit his hair on fire the first day of his lab course? Smelling the strange burned odour he thought: “Someone is ruining his work”, while something began to fall down. This seemed to be his hair. Luckily he noticed it on time, so the only thing it caused was saving a couple of bucks at the barber.
As medal manager (or you can call it golddigger if you want), my role is to keep track of all the medal requirements and how to meet these. Besides that I am part of the PR team, the science team and I will be in the lab, this time without getting a new haircut.
Finance Manager MSc Nanobiology Did you know that Floor is mysteriously missing for five days every February, ever since she started studying? To find her you need to travel to a small village near Nijmegen, named Beek. Here she is celebrating Carnaval with her family since she was a baby. She even became “jeugd page” when she was nine. “Pages” are the girls assisting the prince during Carnaval (the prince was 11).
As Finance Manager, my job is to keep track of all the expenses of the team. During the whole project, I will be in close contact with our Sponsor Manager Jasper, and I will be responsible for dividing the money he acquires over the different parts of the project and managing supply orders.
I wanted to join iGEM because I thought it was interesting to work together with students on a synthetic biology project. As an iGEM team we do everything ourselves, from raising money to working in the lab and everything in between. I wanted to learn a lot about all these different parts of the project and develop myself further.
Team Captain MSc Nanobiology Did you know that Fiona’s favourite music genre is Christmas songs? She helped to compile the biggest christmas song spotify playlist ever together with her fellow christmas-loving board members, which was used for a very successful karaoke party. She also listens to ‘Last Christmas’ from Wham! at least once a week. As Team Captain, it is my job to make sure all the team members have everything they need to stay motivated and work on making a fantastic project. I also coordinate meetings, manage contact with supervisors and keep an overview on what is happening in all aspects of the project. I loved the idea of learning all the ins and outs of developing a project from scratch and building experience working in a large interdisciplinary team. iGEM was the perfect opportunity for this! PR team MSc Chemical Engineering Besides Guillermo’s love for science, music was always important for him too. After a failed shower-singing career, Guillermo discovered his music performance skills after beating his friends on Guitar Hero. That made him decide to take up guitar and so he has been playing ever since. He even joined conservatorium whilst trying to survive his ChemE studies in Spain.
As part of the science and modeling teams, my role consists of coming up with the best ideas for the project while at the same time verifying their feasibility to help this project make it to the next level. As for the PR, my job is to make this project reach everyone out there and enable people outside our team to have a say in our work. My aim is to act as a bridge between the industrial/applicable side to chemistry/synthetic biology and society.
Over the course of my years at university, I discovered that undoubtedly, research is what appealed to me the most, especially when related to chemistry and biology and when it entails laboratory work. iGEM was for me the opportunity to carry out all of these while still being a MSc student at a university and educate myself further as a researcher. Science Manager MSc Did you know that Kasper actually started studying Nanobiology more or less by accident? He was at the open house of the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, already having decided to study Econometrics. He went to the presentation of Nanobiology thinking that it was to kill spare time, but when he walked out, his only question was, “where do I sign up?” The words ‘Science Manager’ actually say it all: I am responsible for the science in our project. My main tasks are designing and coordinating the experiments. This comes down to reading and understanding papers and protocols, and translating them into experiments that we need to do for our project. The main reason for me to join iGEM is that I knew it would be a unique way to fill in part of my curriculum by participating in this project. It is a great opportunity to work with a team towards the Boston Jamboree, and it is completely different from courses, committee work and individual research projects. I did not want to miss out on that experience! Secretary: MSc Nanobiology Did you know that the first time Gaby decided to paint a painting, she spent 3 entire days on it? She was so preoccupied with it that she only stopped painting to sleep and eat. Even my friends were wondering what she was doing, since she would only reply to them late in the evening. That was 4 years ago, she hasn’t touched a paintbrush ever since. And oh, she loves hazelnut ice cream.
As secretary, I am like the mother of the group. My job is to make sure everyone is happy and has a full stomach. As you may know, moms are really versatile and that is also what I am in the group by helping out wherever I am necessary. Another responsibility of being a secretary is to keep everything well organized and handle all the incoming new emails and events. I try to make sure that the team will be kept up to date with all the deadlines and events.
What piqued my enthusiasm for joining iGEM is the way students are given the opportunity to express their creativity and to put their innovative ideas to practice.We are given a chance to experience working as a scientist while putting our skills and knowledge up to a challenge.
Safety Officer MSc Nanobiology Did you know that Isabell has 20 different types of loose-leaf tea at home? This is what happens when you tell people: “Oh I like this thing, so if you don’t know what to give me for [insert random occasion], just buy that.” - and they never forget about it. Luckily, Isabell moved towns now, so she actually has the opportunity to drink all of it - she does like tea after all.
As Safety Officer, it is my job to coordinate lab safety requirements as well as preparing the safety proposal and report for this year’s project. However, since this role is only work intensive during some parts of the projects, I have now morphed into a jack-of-all-trades helping with whatever needs help.
The idea of starting a project from scratch and working on all the different components involved in research was what mainly motivated me to join iGEM. I also thought it was an exciting opportunity to really delve into a completely new topic for me - synthetic biology - and learn new techniques and skills. Sponsor Manager MSc Nanobiology Did you know that Jasper is growing his in-room garden (‘moestuintjes’) during the past months? He finds that watering, supporting and repotting plants when they grow big is a highly rewarding hobby to share with his housemates. He is especially proud of his cinnamon, basil and sunflowers.
As Sponsor Manager, I have the honour of sharing our project with educational institutions, companies and other organizations. In order to conduct the science and public outreach for our dream application, we should engage in collaborations. I wish to convey our team’s enthusiasm in order to see if working together can be beneficial for both the above-mentioned parties and us!
I find it highly rewarding to apply my knowledge. iGEM provides the opportunity to put my knowledge about synthetic biology into practise and contribute to solving global problems. Being able to do so in a team of ambitious students is a privilege. In addition to expanding my scientific toolbox, I believe it is also valuable to get insight into the organizational side of research, for example in designing the research, acquiring funding and conducting human outreach. Last, but certainly not least, I see iGEM as the perfect platform to show the potential of synthetic biology to the world. When I attend presentations or engage in discussions, I feel most inspired if the presenters get a sparkle in their eyes when they talk about the work they do. Personally, I feel that synthetic biology is a wonderful field, yet poorly understood by the general public. During (and after) iGEM, I aim to share my enthusiasm for synthetic biology and transfer this sparkle to as many people as possible.
PR team, Sponsor Team BSc Nanobiology Did you know that a goal in Amária’s life is to know the dance steps to single ladies of Beyonce and that she practices semi-regularly with her girlfriends but still fails?
My role in the team is quite versatile. I am in charge of outreach, for instance I posted all the introductions on Facebook! Also, I'm part of the sponsor team, science team and lab team, so I do a lot of research too.
I like to make the most out of my university experience, so I try to do as many extracurricular activities as possible. I wish to develop myself and to hone my lab skills in order to become a successful Nanobiologist. I expect to gain and advance lots of skills in the process of iGem, such as working in groups and doing research and finely integrating all this in a real project.
Wiki Manager BSc Nanobiology Did you know that Hielke has been the youth world champion of Frisian draughts three times? Although there are only a few people familiar with this game, still a world champion.
As the wiki manager, I am responsible for how our website looks. At the moment I am making this website from scratch, writing all the code on my own. I think the “computer readable text” is a quite interesting concept. It is much related to how DNA is interpreted as a code to execute its functions and build and recreate itself. I think this century will see a lot of growth in the field of synthetic biology. By joining iGEM I wanted to see what the opportunities there are for me in this exciting era.
Aafke van Aalst
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Kimberly Barentsen
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Kelly Hamers
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Jeroen Jacques
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Floor de Jong
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Fiona Murphy
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Guillermo Serena Ruiz
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Kasper Spoelstra
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Gabriella Tany
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Isabell Trinh
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Jasper Veerman
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Amária Vledder
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Hielke Walinga
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Supervising PIs
Dr. ir. Stan Brouns
Asst. prof. Timon Idema
Asst. prof. Aljoscha Wahl
Instructors
Cristóbal Almendros Romero, PhD
Anthony Birnie, MSc
Hirad Daneshpour, MSc
Dr. David Foschepoth
Patrick de Jonge, MSc
Sebastian Kieper, MSc
Benjamin Lehner, MSc
Franklin Luzia de Nóbrega, PhD
Rebecca McKenzie, PhD
Dr. Louis Reese
Jochem Vink, MSc
Esengül Yildirim, MSc
