Team:Macquarie Australia/Internship
What is TiMI?
This year we continued our tradition of the Transcontinental iGEM Macquarie Internship (TiMI). This program was introduced in 2015 and has the goal of forming a unique team by integrating students from around the globe. TiMI benefits both the international student and the Macquarie team by broadening our skill base whilst giving practical experience to international students who may not have their own opportunity to experience iGEM. Equipped with their iGEM experience, TiMI interns are able to promote iGEM within their own institutions. Not only does this benefit both our team and the intern, it often results in long lasting international collaborations.
2016 Intern
Clément Pealat contacted our team this year, excited by the prospect of working with an iGEM team here in Sydney. Clément is a student from the university École Centrale de Lille, France, where he studies meta-genomics. Upon arrival in Australia it was his first experience with synthetic biology, however, his background in modelling, mathematics and lab experience proved to be a valuable asset to us this year. He played a crucial role in providing the foundations of our ALA to Chlorophyll model. He arrived in May and got straight to work; attending our winter session break bootcamp. Here he learnt the fundamentals of DNA, and was introduced to the basics of synthetic biology. A hard worker, he managed to prepare the model before our team assembled in early August, setting us up for a smooth start, as we were already entering the competition at a late stage.
Whilst here, Clément visited Uluru and explored our coastline and “absolutely loved it”. Heading back to France, Clément will use his iGEM experience as a foundation for his future scientific endeavours, and hopes to apply what he has learned in his future career.
If you would like to know more about TiMI and our program please contact us here: contact us
