Are you interested in how your project affects society and society influences the direction of your project? Will conversations with stakeholders affect the experiemtns you conduct in the lab? Are you planning to integrate feedback into the workflow of your work all through the iGEM competition? Document how your project evolved based on the information acquired from these activities and compete for this award!Throughout the course of iGEM we have had multiple industry communications. We explored domestic wastewater treatment by visiting the leading water treatment facility in our area, Loudoun Water. Then, through direct communications with global leaders and largest US ceiling tile manufacturer, Armstrong, and second largest manufacturer, USG, we learned more about the problems the ceiling tile industry faces as a result of environmentally sustainability initiatives. Both manufacturers affirmed the value of an environmentally safe, biological mechanism that could remove excess starch from their process and wastewater. From the information gathered through our industry communication, we focused on industrial process and waste water treatment: developing a biological system that could quickly and effectively degrade starch in the water. Through communications with engineers in the ceiling tile industry and visits to a manufacturing plant, we gained a better sense of the problem, and how to implement our solution. These conversations were important because we have come to realize that in this growing green building market, manufacturers are looking for innovative solutions. Manufacturer are opening up to alternative solutions, such as synthetic biology, to mitigate product quality affecting problems in manufacturing. For more information on our extensive industry communications, please visit the Industry Communications page and to see the effect of these communications on our project, visit the Project page, specifically the Conclusions" page.
