Attributions
Team Attributions
We all worked really hard on our project and credits go to our entire team.
Carmen
Policy and Practice Manager
As Policy and Practice manger it was my task to “connect” our product to the real world. I was responsible for finding applications for our project. One of those applications, the micro lens arrays as encapsulation layer for solar panels, appeared to be commercially very interesting and I have written a business plan about this application therefore. Furthermore, I have been in contact with multiple researchers, managers and scientists to discuss and improve our project. Together with Lara, I have worked on a report about iGEM and I think we found some interesting ways to improve iGEM even further. Furthermore, I really enjoyed working with Iris on the Safety tool we have developed in collaboration with the RIVM. Eventually, I have presented the tool during the RIVM and Rathneau event. Next to this event we contributed to multiple other events and it was my responsibility to organize this. Additionally, I have supported Liza with the modeling and I also made the final presentation together with Charlotte.
Célina
Public Relations Manager
As PR manager my function was managing contact with the community. Therefore I placed weekly updates on the Facebook and started a LinkedIn page for the team. I went a few times to our communication advisors of the TU Delft, Wendy Dallinga and Lenny Bakker. They helped me with creating a press release. I also managed to get articles on different websites, magazines and newspapers. For policy and practice I made a little start in looking into how to optimize teamwork within a team. For the wet lab, I helped a few times, such as doing colony PCR, ligation and transformation.
Charlotte
Hardware, Graphics and Safety Manager
My first task was being the hardware manager. For this task I have approached a great amount of optics and photonics companies and requested sponsoring, discounts or borrowing equipment that was required for building the optical setup. Once all equipment was collected I was responsible for building the optical setup and testing our cells in it. Furthermore, I was responsible for conducting all wide field and confocal microscopy experiments, together with Liza. My second responsibility was being graphics manager. Here my main task was designing and making the posters and presentations. Furthermore, this task included designing and making the logo, figures and all outreach materials for the team, as well as making sure that all data from our experiments is represented in a clear and professional way. Lastly, I was the safety manager of the team. This means I wrote the research proposal for our project including all safety considerations and handed in all the iGEM safety forms. It was my responsibility that all ML-1 safety measures were met. Besides my managing functions, I also made and did the final presentation, helped out in the lab, did a little modeling and arranged some conversations with experts for policy & practice.
Giannis
Team Leader
As a team leader I was responsible for the organizational aspects of the project. This means I had to find places for the team to stay and dine in Boston, arrange the registration of the team members and mentors for the Jamboree, communicate with headquarters with problems we had, but also more day-to-day chores such as chairing the weekly meetings and reminding the team about deadlines, and creating weekly updates for the advisors. Additionally, I was involved in the modeling part of the project with Liza. As a modeler I firstly created scattering models for thin films to define the reflectivity depending from the refractive indices, thickness, wavelength and angle, and later, models of electromagnetic waves interaction with the biological microlenses to determine the scattering pattern and any focusing and Eigenmodes model for the laser part of the project.
Iris
Safety Tool Manager
I contributed to various subtopics of the iGEM project. I have mainly been involved in the safety and risk management related topics, a part of policy and practice. I am largely responsible for the implementation of general safe-by-design strategies in the shape of a safety tool. Carmen, our policy and practice manager, and I designed and created the software for this tool. In addition, I have contributed to the lab work, especially in the first phases of the project.
Lara
Finance Manager
As the finance manager I was first of all responsible for the external collaborations and communications. Getting in touch with companies and other stakeholders to receive funds and enthuse them about our project. Besides taking care of all funding, I also was the treasurer of our team, tracking our budget closely. Furthermore, as part of the core labteam, I have spent a lot of time in the wetlab making our constructs and characterizing them. At last, I also made a significant contribution to the policy and practice by co-writing our strategy report and the organization of several outreach events.
Liza
Modeling Manager
As a modeling manager I was responsible for making models underlying the work of the lab team. In order to create these models a good understanding of the physics was required and therefore I also have studied a lot of physics concepts. Therefore I also talked with experts. With my knowledge of the underlying physics I also assisted and advised the lab team. Furthermore I have helped Charlotte with building the optical setup. I also was involved in characterizing the lasing in both the optical setup we build as the microscope of the university. Furthermore I made Transmission microscopy images of the vesicles of the Wageningen team and of our silica covered cells.
Lycka
Science Manager
As science manager I closely collaborated with the lab manager, María. Our first task was to design all of the biobricks, which we did after a period of literature research. Subsequently, we were the ones spending most time in the lab, working on the cloning and helping out less experienced team members. It was my responsibility to troubleshoot together with María and the advisors, when experiments did not work out as expected. Furthermore, I designed experiments to characterize our biobricks according to literature. When I was not working in the lab, I helped Liza modelling the laser threshold.
María
Lab Manager
My role as a lab manager was to make sure that everything in the lab was ready (equipment, protocols...). Also, I have worked together with Lycka in the science and experimental design of the wet lab part of the project. At the beginning it would be us two in charge of figuring out everything we needed and how it worked and then passed it on to the rest of the core lab team members to be able to work as fast and efficiently as possible.
Tessa
Wiki Manager
As Wiki Manager my first and foremost responsibility was the design and content of the wiki. I designed our wiki according to our house style, created by Charlotte, and I uploaded most of the files. I also reminded others to write pieces for on the wiki, so I could create a page around it. What I really enjoined about being the Wiki Manger is the fact that it was my responsibility to make all the pages both clear and look nice. Therefore, I discussed with every Manger extensively how their page should look like and in that way I was always partly involved in all the parts of our project. Besides this I also spend a lot of time in the lab helping with the cloning of our biobricks and I worked on the InterLab study. I also went to modeling meetings and I helped Carmen with the policy & practice when I had the time.
Sponsors
The TU Delft iGEM team of 2016 would like to thank its partners, sponsors and supporters.
PARTNERS
TU Delft collaborates with a large number of other educational and research institutes within the Netherlands and abroad and has a reputation for high-quality teaching and research. TU Delft has extensive contacts with governments, trade organisations, consultancies, the industry and small and medium-sized companies. [1]
We would like to thank the following faculties and departments for their help and support:
Coherent, Inc. founded in 1966 is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, USA, Coherent is a world leader in providing laser-based solutions to commercial and scientific research markets. We have the broadest technology portfolio in the industry with solutions for any application. Coherent offers lasers from deep-ultraviolet to far-infrared wavelength, from femtosecond pulse length to continuous wave, and from a few milliwatt to multiple kilowatt output power. [2]
DeltaPix, a leading company in digital imaging solutions, applies its knowledge and experience to overcome challenges, and hereby offers a wide range of solutions that meet the customer's unique requirements. They develop and market a wide range of digital imaging solutions for various biomedical, industrial and forensics applications, and offer both manual and motorized systems for measuring and quality control. DeltaPix offers a broad range of digital cameras for almost any application. All their cameras are manufactured to scientific standards; assembled in dust free environment, high quality IR filters, and high grade sensors. All their CCD cameras use the newest and most advanced Sony CCD sensors, and all CMOS cameras are equipped with the newest high quality CMOS sensors. [3]
StuD is the temporary employment agency run by and for technical students from Delft. StuD’s board comprises six students who fulfill a full-time role over a thirteen-month period and are responsible for day-to-day operations. StuD has an enormous cohort of young, capable students from Delft University of Technology who it can place rapidly and effectively. This ensures numerous advantages when you use the services of StuD. [4]
Thorlabs, a vertically integrated photonics products manufacturer, was founded in 1989 to serve the laser and electro-optics research market. As that market has spawned a multitude of technical innovations, Thorlabs has extended its core competencies in an effort to play an ever increasing role serving the Photonics Industry at the research end, as well as the industrial, life science, medical, and defense segments. The organization's highly integrated and diverse manufacturing assets include semiconductor fabrication of laser diodes, optical amplifiers, lithium niobate modulators, quantum cacscade/interband cascade lasers, and VCSEL lasers; fiber towers for drawing glass optical fibers (silica, fluoride, tellurite, and hollow core); MBE/MOCVD epitaxial wafer growth reactors; extensive glass and metal fabrication facilities; advanced thin film deposition capabilities; and optomechanical and opto-electronic shops. [5]
SPONSORS
Corbion is the global market leader in lactic acid, lactic acid derivatives and emulsifiers. They deliver high performing biobased products made from renewable resources that are applied in a multitude of global markets, including but not limited to: bakery, pharmaceutical and medical devices, as well as home and personal care. Their products have differentiating functionalities in a host of consumer products worldwide. In 2015, Corbion generated annual sales of €918.3 million and a workforce of 1,673 employees. Corbion is listed on Euronext Amsterdam. [6]
Royal DSM is a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials. By connecting its unique competences in life sciences and materials sciences DSM is driving economic prosperity, environmental progress and social advances to create sustainable value for all stakeholders simultaneously. [7]
TNO’s mission of Optics Department is to create breakthrough optical solutions for a healthier, safer and more sustainable world. They develop novel, high-performance optical systems for challenging applications and demanding environments with their partners.[8]
Universiteitsfonds DelftThe Delft University Fund is a foundation independent of the TU Delft, but in close collaboration with the Executive Board and their professors, aiming to promote and support study and research at the TU Delft. The Delft University Fund is complementary to the TU Delft and can often be an important additional support in the realization of various projects. [9]
SUPPORTERS
The Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences is a vocational university located in the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was created in 1988 by a large-scale merger of 19 higher education schools followed by a merger with the Hogeschool voor Economische Studies. It teaches at ten campuses in Rotterdam and one in the nearby city of Dordrecht. Its current student body is greater than 30,000. [10]
Eppendorf is a leading life science company that develops and sells instruments, consumables, and services for liquid-, sample-, and cell handling in laboratories worldwide. Its product range includes pipettes and automated pipetting systems, dispensers, centrifuges, mixers, spectrometers, and DNA amplification equipment as well as ultra-low temperature freezers, fermentors, bioreactors, CO2 incubators, shakers, and cell manipulation systems. Eppendorf was founded in Hamburg, Germany in 1945 and has more than 3,000 employees worldwide. The company has subsidiaries in 25 countries and is represented in all other markets by distributors. [11]
The Dutch Society for Microscopy (NVvM) is a dynamic organization with members from different areas: universities, small and large businesses, and public institutions. Since its establishment, the association of great importance for all members from the different scientific disciplines. [12]
OGD ict-diensten is a Dutch IT service provider in the fields of infrastructure, service management and software development. We do this by means of outsourcing, projects and consulting. Customers praise our flexibility, friendly pricing and informal organization. Our company’s culture is one of knowledge-sharing and constant innovating. This ensures that OGD has been able to provide high-quality IT solutions since 1987. OGD has developed LIFT, a CRM tool, and TOPdesk, both of which have developed into their own independent companies now.[13]
The Dutch consumer’s collective UnitedConsumers was founded in 2000. Over the years 500.000 consumers became a part of the collective. From the beginning UnitedConsumers has one purpose in mind: reduce the fixed charges of consumers, without compromising on service and quality. Members can get a discount on their car and health insurances, fuel, telephone subscriptions and energy (gas and electricity). As an energy supplier UnitedConsumers finds it important to take its responsibilities. That is why the consumer’s collective supplies green electricity to all its customers. Also United Consumers informs and advises consumers on energy saving options. This way UnitedConsumers wants to contribute to a sustainable future, together with the consumers. In recent years United Consumers won awards for best service (GfK, Preferenso) and several times for best energy supplier (GfK, Consumentenbond, Vereniging Eigen Huis). [14]
Sigma and Aldrich were founded separately in 1935 and 1951, respectively, to supply biochemicals and chemicals to research scientists in the U.S. Both companies started with the production and distribution of a single proprietary chemical: Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by Sigma and 1-methyl-3- nitro-1-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) by Aldrich. For many years, the two companies grew independently, Sigma serving primarily biochemists and Aldrich serving organic chemists. When changing trends in chemical research confirmed the synergy to be realized from their complementary product offerings, Aldrich Chemical Co. merged with Sigma International, Ltd., in 1975 forming Sigma-Aldrich Corporation. With this marriage of broad capabilities and resources, annual double-digit sales growth became the standard in the 1980s and 1990s, with significant expansion in facilities, acquisitions and ventures into new market sectors. [15]
SnapGene offers the fastest and easiest way to plan, visualize, and document your molecular biology procedures. Cloning is simpler when you can see exactly what you are doing. SnapGene is the first molecular biology software that is easier to use than pen and paper. Now every DNA construct made in your lab can be documented in a rich electronic format… and thanks to the free SnapGene Viewer, the files can be shared with colleagues around the world. [16]
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all the people who advised and helped us with our experiments, hardware and modeling or provided us with parts for our hardware. We would also especially like to thank our advisors for their help and feedback throughout the entire project.
Advisors
- Timon Idema for supervising the modeling and being the head advisor.
- Anne Meyer for providing us with weekly feedback and tips.
- Esengül Yildirim for giving the lab workshop, for supervising and helping with the lab, and for being there for us whenever we needed her.
- Dominik Schmieden for answering all of our many labwork related questions and for giving the wiki workshop, the SnapGene workshop and the presentation workshop.
- Jorine Eeftens for always helping out with the hardware and for giving the brainstorm workshop and the leadership workshop.
- Helena Shomar Monges for helping us out in the lab and giving the policy and practice workshop.
- Greg Bokinsky for advising us and for giving tips on cloning.
- Executive board of directors for financial support of our efforts.
Lab support
- Jeremie Capoulade, Head of the microscopy facility of the Department of Bionanoscience, TU Delft for helping us with microscopy experiments.
- Susanne Hage, Wetlab coordinator of the Department of Bionanoscience, TU Delft for providing us with labs and a lot of practical help.
- Marinka Almering, Biosafety officer TU Delft of the Faculty of applied sciences, TU Delft for helping us with our research proposal.
- Robbert Kleerebezem and Dmitry Sorokin of the Department of Biotechnology, TU Delft for providing us with information about PHB visualization.
- Mariana Velasco Alvarez and Aljoscha Wahl of the Department of Biotechnology, TU Delft for providing us with information about PHB production in E. coli.
- Allard Katan of the Department of Bionanoscience, TU Delft for helping us with atomic force microscopy measurements.
- Arjen Amelink, Kees Buijsrogge and Bart Snijders of TNO for giving us useful feedback, information and contacts for our project.
- Arjan Houtepen, department of Chemical Engineering for giving us brainstorming with us on our project.
- Vanessa Ribeiro de Carvalho of the Department of Bionanoscience, TU Delft for helping with preparing transmission electron microscopy samples.
- Yoones Kabiri of the Department of Bionanoscience, TU Delft for helping with transmission electron microscopy experiments.
- Stefaan Heirman from the Photovoltaic Materials and Devices Research Group, TU Delft for helping us with the Solar Simulator Experiments and Spectroscopy.
- Arno Smets from the Photovoltaic Materials and Devices Research Group, TU Delft for helping with arranging the Solar Simulator Experiments.
- Erwin van Rijn, of the Department of Bionanoscience, TU Delft for giving us the right safety arrangements.
- Jan Wignand and Anke Amweg of the Department of Bionanoscience, TU Delft for providing us with fresh lab equipment.
Human Practices
- Emma Verver & Pierre-Emmanuel Monet from Nikon Europe for the interview at Nikon and a tour through the facilities.
- Ronald van Dijk from Olympus for the interview and visit to Olympus.
- Joost Mathot and Justin Kok from Delft Enterprises for helping with the business plan.
- Korienke Smit from the Center for Safety of Substances and Products (RIVM) for guiding us through the safe-by-design assignment of the RIVM.
- Birgit de Bruin for providing us with useful contacts.
Hardware
- Margreet Docter of the Department of Bionanoscience, TU Delft For providing us with an optical lab and a lot of components for our optical setup.
- Elio Abbondanzieri, assistant professor of the Department of Bionanoscience, TU Delft for providing us with optical parts and equipment.
- Roozbeh Shokri from Thorlabs for providing us with help and donating a lot of optical parts.
- Marco Lentjes from Coherent for extensive help on finding a suitable laser for our project and lending one.
- Yusef Maarouf from DeltaPix for providing us with a CCD camera.
- Pieter Kramer from Laser2000 for helping to find optical parts and providing us with a function generator.
- Cees Dekker Lab of the Department of Bionanoscience for lending us equipment for the hardware setup and advising us on the hardware and experiments.
Modeling
- Daniel Nascimento-Duplat and Ying Tang, Ph.D Students from Optica – Optics Research Group of ImPhys – Department of Imaging Physics, TU Delft for help on debugging our COMSOL models and using CST software.
- Ewold Verhagen, Scientific group leader of the Center for Nanophotonics, FOM Institute AMOLF for helping us understand whispering gallery modes. Furthermore he advised us in modeling the Eigenmodes and scattering of light by microlenses using COMSOL and interpreting the results of our models.
- Florian Bociort of the Departement of Imaging Physics, TU Delft for giving an explanation of optics at the beginning of our project.
- Nandini Bhattacharya of the Departement of Imaging Physics, TU Delft for helping with characterizing the lenses.
- Aurèle Adam of the Departement of Imaging Physics, TU Delft for helping by explaining the physics of microlenses.
Fundraising and Finance
- Aljoscha Wahl of the Department of Biotechnology, TU Delft for helping us get in touch with numerous companies.
- Angela de Ceuninck van Capelle, Management support staff of the Department of Bionanoscience, TU Delft for helping in logistics and funding.
- Stefania Usai, Program manager at the Department of Bionanoscience, TU Delft for helping in funding and especially creating an elevator pitch.
- Our sponsors for financial support.
Public Relations
- Wendy Dallinga and Lenny Bakker of the Communication Department, TU Delft for helping us write the press releases.
- Michel van Baal, Press officer of the TU Delft for giving a media training.
- The boards of Technologisch Gezelschap, S.V. LIFE and S.N.V.B. Hooke for helping us promote our presentation.
Others
- Lesley Robertson, TU Delft for providing us with an Antoni van Leeuwenhoek microscope.
- Jolijn Leeuwenburgh and Amanda van der Vlist Secretary of Department of Bionanoscience, TU Delft for helping in logistics.
References
- http://www.tudelft.nl/en/about-tu-delft/
- https://www.coherent.com/
- http://www.deltapix.dk/about-deltapix.html
- https://www.stud.nl/en/home
- https://www.thorlabs.de/index.cfm
- http://www.corbion.com/about-corbion
- http://www.dsm.com/corporate/about.html
- https://www.tno.nl/en/
- https://www.rotterdamuas.com/
- https://www.eppendorf.com/NL-en/about-us/careers/the-company-eppendorf/
- http://www.microscopie.nl/nederlandse-vereniging-voor-microscopie-introduction/
- https://www.ogd.nl/over-ogd/
- www.unitedconsumers.com/energie
- http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/customer-service/about-us/sigma-aldrich-history.html
- http://www.snapgene.com/products/snapgene/about_snapgene/