Team:Duesseldorf/Team
Welcome to OPTOPTOSIS
Our group consists of 19 motivated undergraduate students, that came together in late 2015 to found the first iGEM Team of the Heinrich Heine University in Duesseldorf. In 2015 we made it our goal, to create a new and innovative application for synthetic biology and become a part of the renowned iGEM competition.
Already in the early stage of the project it was definite that we would emphasize on creating a mechanism to fight one of the deadliest diseases in the world: cancer. On this page we will tell you how we approach this big goal.
Alina Kuklinski
- Nickname: grüner Bär
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: table tennis, cooking, pubs, hiking, nature
- Favorite chemical: Trimethyl borate - because it is a colourless liquid that burns with a green flame.
- Favorite Pokémon: Venonat
- Favorite Beer: "Altbier" Düsseldorf's best beer
- Favorite Quote: “No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.” - Elbert Hubbard
Carima Weinert
- Nickname: catlady
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: Food and TV shows
- Favorite Enzyme: RuBisCo
- Favorite Pokémon: Sheinux
- Favorite Beer: Veltins
- Life Motto: Driver picks the music shotgun shuts his cakehole
Carolin Krämer
- Nickname: Mutti
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: Cooking, baking, reading
- Favorite Chemical: Prolin
- Favorite Pokémon: Arcanine
- Favorite Beer: Koelsch
- Life Motto: Live slow. Die whenever
Claudia Kalus
- Nickname: DrosophiLORD
- Study Path: Biology, B.Sc.
- Hobbies: Drawing
- Favorite Enzyme: RubisCO
- Favorite Pokémon: Bulbasaur
- Favorite Beer: Beck's Gold
- Life Motto/Favorite Quote/Philosophy: Wer nicht phagt, der nicht gewinnt!
Dorian Röders
- Nickname: Doreen
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: Falconry, hunting and bouldering
- Favorite Chemical:Ethidium bromide
- Favorite Pokémon: Milotic
- Favorite Beer: I am alergic to beer :(
- Life Motto: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger or cripples you
Erdem Sunal
- Nickname: Erdemeyerkolben
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: Judo & Basketball
- Favorite Chemical:Dinitrogen monoxide
- Favorite Pokémon: Scyther
- Favorite Beer: Ayran
- Philosophy:"Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend." -Bruce Lee
Julia Kapr
- Nickname: Jule
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: Traveling
- Favorite Chemical: ATP
- Favorite Pokémon: Vulpix
- Favorite Beer: Grevensteiner
- Life Motto: hope, believe and trust
Julian Ohl
- Nickname: Jules
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: Hiking, sailing
- Favorite Enzyme: BamH1
- Favorite Pokémon: Nomplant
- Favorite Beer: Flensburger
- Philosophy: Hakuna Matata
Leonie Wirth
- Nickname: Ingo
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: To spend time with my dog, my cat, my boyfried or with yeast in the lab
- Favorite Chemical: Bradford-solution
- Favorite Pokémon: Pummeluff
- Favorite Beer: "Alsterwasser"
- Life Motto: Somebody yeast i use to grow!
Maja Magel
- Nickname: Majoe
- Study Path: Biology B.Sc.
- Hobbies: Reading, getting people to sing Disney songs (or at least give them earworms/ catchy tunes), daydreaming, museums, discussions about "god and the world"
- Favorite Gene: Dorsal gen "spätzle" in Drosophila. Because it is the same as in Spätzle (sort of pasta in Germany, typical for the Swabian region)
- Favorite Pokémon: Alakazam
- Favorite Beer: Beer, that does not smell or taste like beer. Basically, no beer
- Life Motto: Dreams get you started. Discipline keeps you going. - Jim Rohn
Marcel Dickmanns
- Nickname: Mahhhcel
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: Music, Basketball, Outdoors
- Favorite Chemical: Tryptophan
- Favorite Pokémon: Alakazam
- Favorite Beer: Good old german pils
- Life Motto: -
Martin Duemmel
- Nickname: Martini
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: Videogames, reading, tabletop wargaming
- Favorite Enzyme: oxidosqualene cyclase
- Favorite Pokémon: Camerupt
- Favorite Beer: Kürzer Alt
- Life Motto: Live now. Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.
Marvin Hubert
- Nickname: Hupsi
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: sport, music and spend time with friends
- Favorite Chemical: Dihydrogen Monoxide
- Favorite Pokémon: Pikachu
- Favorite Beer: Veltins
- Philosophy: Utile dulci
Marvin van Aalst
- Nickname: Christian
- Study Path: Quantitative biology
- Hobbies: Drumming and sports
- Favorite Enzyme: Q5-Polymerase
- Favorite Pokémon: Donkey Kong
- Favorite Beer: nonalcoholic wheat beer
- Life Motto: Noli Timore Messorum – Terry Pratchett
Melissa Meschkewitz
- Nickname: Schmelissa
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: Dancing, making music
- Favorite Enzyme: DNA-Polymerase III
- Favorite Pokémon: Vaporeon
- Favorite Beer: Kölsch
- Life Motto: Love what you do and do what you love.
Rebecca Wolters
- Nickname: Becks
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: Fitness, Cooking and Eating
- Favorite Enzyme: Chymosin
- Favorite Pokémon: I don't have one..
- Favorite Beer: IPA (Bierprojekt 777)
- Life Motto: Be realistic, try the impossible.
René Inckemann
- Nickname: Tollpatsch
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: playing guitar, making music, riding motorcycle
- Favorite Enzyme: PvuII
- Favorite Pokémon: Ivysaur
- Favorite Beer: König Pilsener
- Favorite Quote: Only two things are infinite, the universe snd the human stupidity and I'm not sure about the former- albert einstein
Tim Rapp
- Nickname: Timmy
- Study Path: B.Sc. Biology Plus/International
- Hobbies: sports & drawing
- Favorite Chemical: Chloroform
- Favorite Pokémon: Garbodor
- Favorite Beer: Jever
- Favorite Quote:“And so the lion fell in love with the lamb.” - Goethe
Tobias Link
- Nickname: Picker
- Study Path: Biology
- Hobbies: football, fitness, gaming
- Favorite Chemical: Ethidiumbromid
- Favorite Pokémon: Venusaur
- Favorite Beer: Königpilsener
- Life Motto:He who says he can and he who says he can't are not usually right
Matias Zurbriggen
- Nickname: Mati
- Study Path: Synthetic Biology
- Hobbies: Soccer, Grunge Music, Travelling
- Favorite Chemical: Chemical Brothers
- Favorite Beer: Waldhaus Diplom Pils
- Life Motto:The absence of evidence is not an evidence of the absence.
MLP Team Building Day
After asking them for help with our project, we were kindly invited to attend a Career-Day as a team by MLP Düsseldorf. They wanted to help improve our skills in presenting ourselves, achieving results as a group, make decisions in a group in a fast and effective manner and generally help getting to know each other better and learn about the strengths of the other team members.
First, we invited them to come to one of our weekly meetings to learn about MLP and what they wanted to do for us. Two employees came to the meeting: Kenan Hadzihamzic and Dimitri Tzourmbakis. It was a very entertaining encounter and we immediately were very enthusiastic about their offer: To come visit them at the MLP-Branch in Düsseldorf to help us improve our soft skills.
Then, on a Saturday morning, we all arrived at our destination and were welcomed hearty at their office building by Kenan, Dimitri and an additional employee that we met: Branko Beljak. At first, they helped us improve our ways of presenting ourselves, then we carried out an exercise to find an outcome as a short group in a short time efficiently: A situation, where we should choose the ideal candidate for a certain business was simulated. After that, a similar exercise was carried out but with a bigger group.
Finally, we took our lunch break: They bought pizza for the whole team! We had a very relaxing and nice time chatting and playing table football against the employees.
After the break, we simulated a situation of a casino-trip, where we got to choose between an own big benefit or for the good of all: It was an exercise to test and improve our team spirit. We scored brilliant results, it was an important moment for all team members.
At the end, we evaluated the day and the benefit it has brought to us and our project; The feedback by us and the employees was highly positive and everyone profited from it.
Everyone that attended this Career-Day was given the chance to get some evaluation about their individual strengths and weaknesses and how to improve oneself based on that in a personal meeting with one of the three involved employees.
We are glad that they gave us the opportunity to attend to this highly effective career day and help us to improve our project!
