Team:Tec-Monterrey/Team
Meet the people who make awesome stuff
Fun, happy, likes parties, says random comments, bunny lover, drummer, sassy
Carmen is one of the most helpful and nicest persons you can meet. At first she can be a bit quiet, but once she gets comfortable, she can be the funniest party-goer. She has had an incredible growth during the project and when you get to know her, you discover a pretty amazing girl who loves concerts and rock bands and who will amuse you with her random questions. We have never seen her angry and she is always smiling, but be careful, her smile is contagious!
iGEM fact: She knows everything about other teams’ wikis.
Random fact: She loves bunnies and she also juggles in the lab.
Carmen Padilla
Bioengineering
Strong, gamer, sweet, love, hugs, IT/computer science, expressive.
Meli is the strongest member of the team and that’s what makes her a true Pokémon Master. She is sweet, loves hugs and she is always trying to make everyone happy. She dreams to be a computer scientist as well as a bioengineer and we are sure she will rule the world because she knows how to get what she wants when she wants it. Her ability to play video games is undoubtedly what makes her unique. If she is angry just get her a chocolate muffin, drop it slowly and run for your life. Her soul talks with the voice of Navi.
iGEM fact: She is our certified DNA purifier.
Random fact: She has Pokémon clothes and loves dying her hair.
Melissa González
Bioengineering
Dedication, passion, responsible, organized, belly dancer, runner, coffee lover, baker.
One thing that’s for sure is that without Caro, we wouldn’t be here. Our team leader is a proactive member who enjoys a good cup of coffee while getting everything done. Caro is like Wonder Woman, she can move her hips like Shakira while she is running marathons for homeless kids and baking cupcakes to build her future multinational bakery. Although she is a great leader, she has had to learn to delegate responsibilities because she is the definition of impossible multitask. Caro has a great sense of responsibility and one of the best attitudes of the team, as she is always willing to listen to everyone’s ideas (even if they are a little bit crazy). We all know that her dedication, hard work and passion will take her to unimaginable places, and once she gets there, we all want to be there to see the better world she created.
iGEM fact: It’s her third time participating in iGEM and she loves it like crazy.
Random fact: She is proud of showing an old picture of her when she was a chubby kid.
Carolina Elizondo
Bioengineering
Careful planner, intelligent, realistic, honest, dramatic, semi-god like explaining skills, map lover.
We can all affirm that iGEM wouldn’t have been the same without him, he’s the one who keeps us focused on the goal because he’s not afraid to take up more responsibilities to support the team. Chuy is a complete drama queen but he is also the smartest guy you can meet. If you want to ask him anything about cute little plants, rare diseases, exotic animals or anything about life and the universe, he is definitely your man. He is always deep, thoughtful, impatient and caring; he can be a little bit of a hater sometimes, but somehow he still manages to make us love him endlessly.
iGEM fact: He is our expert on iGEM history.
Random fact: He eats everything in front of him, if you leave a pen in front of him he will unconsciously chew it until it’s useless.
Jesús García Lima
Bioengineering
Committed, fun, smiley, optimistic, happy, dreamer, christmas lover, great listener, nice, caring, leader, sweet.
Ale is the nicest human being you will meet in your life. She will always bring a smile to your face when you are feeling sad and she’s the best at listening to other people’s problems (specially if they are security guards). Don’t let her sweet looks and perfect outfit and makeup deceive you, because she is also a great leader since she is not afraid to tell everyone what to do when it is needed. She is the one who keep us organized and definitely the one you look for when you want to get anything done. Ale is also the most social person EVER, she knows everyone everywhere and she has the gypsy-like ability to know your Zodiac sign the instant she meets you. Ale also has the title of being the most huggable person ever, which is perfect because she loves hugs more than anyone, so whenever you see her, don’t be afraid to give her a big bear hug!
iGEM fact: Ale helped the 2015 Tec-Monterrey team during the summer, but she had to go Singapore to study abroad.
Random fact: She has this weird condition in which everyone looks just like an iPhone: TOUCH.
Alejandra Vela
Bioengineering
Creative, focused, intense, funny, reggaeton dancer, tequila lover.
Yili is the most hard working person ever, without her we don’t know what would have happened with the project. She is extremely efficient and knows how to get things done because she is very realistic and honest, and God knows that’s what we needed on the team. Her sense of humor is unique and it only compares with her love for dancing. Also, her playlist of old school mexican hits is one of the most requested ones at the lab! She is definitely the person you want by your side during a crisis, but she is also the one you invite to the best party of your life.
iGEM fact: She made an amazing drawing of a kid for our Human Practice.
Random fact: She is the best at creating science memes.
Yili Natalia Padilla
Bioengineering
Dreamer, independent, random, proactive, creative, funny, positive, crazy.
Carlos is the mind that gave birth to the idea of our project, without him we would be doing something to do with mangoes or moringa. He is a very unique person and his ideas are complex and difficult to describe, just like him. He’s willing to err in everything he does until he accomplishes what he wants to do. The definition of random is underestimated when you meet him because as one day he can ask you deep questions about life, the next day he could convince you of investing all of your savings in our project.
iGEM fact: Carlos has contacted several members from other teams just to get to know them, we don’t know if that’s creepy or cute, but well, it’s Carlos.
Random fact: He once tricked part of the team into thinking they were only going for food and instead he took them to a nearby town to look at the stars.
Carlos Vásquez
Bioengineering
Trustworthy, mysterious, religious, serious, inquisitive look, responsible, patient, resourceful, alpha male.
Raúl is the big brother of the team and that’s not a surprise because he has had time to train with his 10 siblings at home. He is a very kind person and when you need something you know you can trust him with your life. He is also the most photogenic member of the team, seriously, every move he makes is a profile picture. What makes him special is that he is the carrier of the good vibes of the team. We have reasons to think he was raised by ninjas because he has the supernatural ability to disappear without anyone noticing, however, he always chooses one lucky one to say goodbye to.
iGEM fact: For some reason, he has an unearthly disdain to make agar plates with antibiotics.
Random fact: The Ancient Prophecies state that, if Raúl chooses you in three days in a row to say goodbye before disappearing, you’ll have good luck for an entire month. (It has never happened so far).
Raúl Garza
Bioengineering
Innocent, nice, cute, smiley, loves dancing, heart breaker, creative, optimistic.
She is the heart of the team, lovely, cute and innocent. Her tenderness warms the entire team. She is always willing to help in everything she can. Sometimes her ideas are possible in an impossible universe, but we know these thoughts will turn her into the finder of the most amazing and unbelievable discovery we could ever imagine. We have seen how being in iGEM has helped her to open up with others, and we love that!
iGEM fact: She has an uncanny talent for making the world’s cutest Wall-Es, which she proved in our Human Practice.
Random fact: At 2 am, she starts to transform into this crazy little monster who screams at everyone and only wants to eat (beware: she bites :P).
Melissa Rios
Bioengineering
Loyal, handsome, fit, social, loves partying, sensitive, gentleman, funny.
Marcelo is our sweetest member. We can describe him from a cartoon lover, to a gentleman who will always open the door for you, and go to your rescue if you are in need of help. He will be in your worst moments because he is a great listener and he can really understand what you are feeling, almost like if he were feeling it too. He is a rebel without a cause, he is always complaining about the system and he hates routine with all of his heart. He can be a little bit insecure sometimes, but we know he is a great asset to this team and full of potential.
iGEM fact: His lab coat is the most comfortable one, so every team member loves to use it.
Random fact: One of his dreams is to get as fit as Tarzan so that he can take off his shirt to save a damsel in distress under the rain (don’t judge us, judge him).
Marcelo Álvarez
Bioengineering
Intelligent, hard-working, kind, efficient, organized, funny, happy, argumentative, perfectionist.
Suria is perhaps the nicest person you can meet. She is always smiling and willing to listen to others. Don't let this fool you, though: her intense dedication is what really defines her. We all know that she will go far, becoming a recognized scientist in the not-so-distant future. But that's not her goal. She wants to understand the world; her genuine curiosity is what all scientists should aspire to. She also has the talent of being completely honest while remaining constructive and polite, giving us enough confidence to trust her with more private things than we should. Vegetarian from birth and TED-connoisseur extraordinaire, Suria is more than her beautiful laughter, incredible advice, and brains of a goddess; she is also the greatest friend you can have.
iGEM fact: She has the almost magical ability to prepare perfect Petri dishes without even looking.
Random fact: A tip to conquer her love is to perform magic tricks in front of her.
Suria Itzel Morales
Bioengineering
Smart, creative, sweet, fun, gamer, food giver, optimistic, IT God.
If it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t be reading this. He is the computer science mind of the team, always giving advice and being there when the team needs a hug or food. Carlos was the one who created the wiki and helped the whole team to go through the tough days with words of wisdom. He sings High School Musical songs and dances better than all the girls together in the team. You will definitely love his sweet attitude towards life and his rage quits when the code doesn’t work.
Igem fact: He can make every code work in a matter of hours.
Random fact: He has a meme for everything and has the 721 Pokémon in existence registered in the Pokedex.
Carlos Frutos
Information Technology Engineering
Engineering Physics student, smart, curious, kind.
Javier is our youngest member. He’s only in his third semester but has been going to courses ahead of his study plan. He is very dedicated and passionate about math and learning. In fact, he got into the team in a very curious way: he was invited to one of the “training” sessions and got instantly interested into Systems Biology and modeling. He is the analytical part of the modeling team and without him the model wouldn’t be as good as it is. He is always a very nice and kind person. He was somewhat shy at the beginning but not so much right now. One thing he keeps doing is not knocking on the lab door, instead he places his head against the glass and waits for someone to see him (the door is magnetically locked and it is made of glass but it’s not fully transparent).
iGEM fact: Every time he receives a voice note, he panics thinking something could have gone wrong with the math model.
Random fact: His last name is almost the same as his home state (Nayarit).
Javier Naya
Engineering Physics
Physicist, smart, reliable, computer whiz, multi-task, wine taster, coffee addict.
A strange mixture of chemistry, math, and physics; he functions like a science utility knife. Since is studying both engineering physics and chemistry, he hasn’t only done the mathematical model but helped in the design of module III. He can always find a different way of tackling a problem, meaning he always manages to teach us something even when we’re all stumped. Above all, he is a rational thinker, yet his optimism in our project is only surpassed by his commitment to it. He is also very well versed in math or physics jokes, so don't be afraid to ask him one if you see him.
iGEM fact: All the girls are jealous of the curves of his math model.
Random fact: His biggest dream is building his own Iron Man suit.
Javier Montemayor
Engineering Physics
Meet the people who make awesome stuff
Luis Mario is a vocational teacher, he loves to learn everything he can about any topic from Pi digits to all the Pokemon in existence. He is the sarcasm king and even though he is serious he has a joke almost for every situation. He helped the team in almost every lab situation as well in giving advice in the construction of the biobricks.
Luis Mario Leal Garza
Miguel Ángel graduated from his Master in 2013 here at Tecnológico de Monterrey. He is currently working at CITES, the research unit of our Hospital’s University developing a Stem Cell therapy for Diabetes as well for other diseases. He has helped us in the lab with advices and transformation protocols. This is his first time at iGEM, he loves bread, pizza and coffee.
Miguel Ángel Ortiz Salazar
Meet the people who make awesome stuff
Dr. Cardineau began his career in the field of Agricultural Biotechnology in 1983 as a scientist in a small start-up company, Sungene Technologies, where he also served a short time as Manager of Market Development. After a long and fruitful career, he became Director of Molecular Biology at our university. All in all, he has 28 issued US patents and 19 published applications and over 140 patents and applications worldwide. These works include; broad enabling patents describing the earliest production of vaccines in transgenic plants, the synthesis of genes to improve their expression in a foreign host and the only plant made vaccines approved by a regulatory authority for commercial release. We thank him for his kind support to get the project going, as well as for all his advice, and all the material that he kindly provided us.
Dr. Guy Cardineau
José Manuel Aguilar majored in Biology with a specialty in Molecular Biology and holds a PhD in Biotechnology. He was responsible for the production of a more efficient procedure for the detection of influenza H1N1 during its pandemia, and the development of a vaccine using bacteria instead of chicken eggs. He has worked in severa projects vinculated with National companies in different research areas such as food and pharmaceutics. Now he is working in discovering the secrets of the honeybee for longevity, through the analysis of royal jelly and its epigenetic effects.
Dr. José Manuel Aguilar Yáñez
Instructor
Meet those who made everything possible
Tecnológico de Monterrey
Our school, Tecnológico de Monterrey, through its School of Biotechnology and Health Sciences, provided most of the funding for our project, as well as the facilities and equipment we required. We want to thank them for their continued support.
IDT
The sponsorship of free DNA synthesis that IDT provided to all iGEM teams was vital for the assembly of our biobricks. We are very grateful for their support through Uniparts.
GenScript
Through the special discount offered by GenScript to iGEM teams, we were able to synthesize the parts we needed. We are grateful for their help in making the project more feasible.
CVR
The only certified e-waste recycler in our city of Monterrey, Mexico, we want to thank Corporación de Valores Reciclados (CVR) for their continued sponsorship throughout our project. They provided the e-waste samples that we used in our experiments, besides counseling and sponsorship of our e-waste recycling campaign.
Geomicrobiology Laboratory, UASLP
The Geomicrobiology Laboratory of the Metallurgy Intitute at the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí (UASLP). We thank them for kindly providing us the strain of the bacterium Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, as well as for all their support in receiving us in their lab and for the counseling they provided us.
School of Medicine, UNAM
The School of Medicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). We thank them for kindly providing us the strain of the bacterium Chromobacterium violaceum.
SnapGene
We are very grateful for the software licenses they provided us, which helped us to better design our parts for the project.
MathWorks
We are very grateful for the software licenses they provided us. MATLAB allowed us to develop our mathematical model.
Accura
We want to thank Accura for their sponsorship of MiniPrep and Gel Extraction kits, which greatly facilitated our work in the lab.
Brought to you by iGEM Tec-Monterrey 2016
