Giant Jamboree/Workshops

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WORKSHOPS

On this page, you can find the Giant Jamboree Workshop schedule and descriptions.

Click below to download a PDF version of the all the workshops.

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Workshop Overview

All weekend
Title	Room	Time	Host
IDT Lounge	Room 207	All day	IDT
Build a Landmark	HQ Table	All day	iGEM
Friday
Title	Room	Time	Host
Ready to turn your project into a business?	Room 202	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	Promega
Designing, Recording, and Sharing Experiments with Benchling: A Workshop for iGEM Teams	Room 208	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	Benchling
How to Successfully Pitch Yourself in Industry & Academia	Room 210	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	After iGEM
A Hands-on Introduction to Automating Your Protocols with the OT-2	Room 304	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	Opentrons
SynBio Solutions	Room 306	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	Agilent
Making Biology Easier to Understand	Room 312	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	Ginkgo Bioworks
Latin America Meetup	Room 202	7:00 PM - 8:00 PM	After iGEM
High School Team Meetup	Room 204	7:00 PM - 8:00 PM	After iGEM
Sustainable Development Goals Hackathon	Room 208	7:00 PM - 8:00 PM	iGEM
Saturday
Title	Room	Time	Host
Empowering responsible and visionary engineering! Design the future of Human Practices	Room 202	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	iGEM Human Practices Committee
Career Fair	Room 203	1:30 PM - 4:30 PM	iGEM
The Mentorship Program 2019	Room 204	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	After iGEM
Calling all synthetic biology innovators - can you be the hero the world needs?	Room 208	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	Twist Bioscience
LGBTQ+ in STEM: Stories, Data, and Strategies	Room 210	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	iGEM Diversity and Inclusion Committee
What kinds of industry jobs could I get with my degree?	Room 302	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	Promega
Measurement at iGEM	Room 304	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	iGEM Measurement Committee
Modeling Synthetic Biology Systems with MATLAB and SimBiology	Room 311	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	MathWorks
Safeguarding Science and the Future	Room 312	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	FBI
Instructor and Judge Human Practice Meetup: Committee Feedback and Interest session	Room 202	7:00 PM - 8:00 PM	iGEM Human Practices Committee
LGBTQ+ Meetup	Room 204	7:00 PM - 8:00 PM	iGEM Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Mini-Hackathon with MATLAB and SimBiology	Room 208	7:00 PM - 8:00 PM	MathWorks
Sunday
Title	Room	Time	Host
Making Your Mark: Career Advice from IDT Associates	Room 208	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	IDT
The Insight of Protein Engineering Shared by TED Fellow Christopher Bahl	Room 302	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	Genscript
Working Safely with Biology	Room 306	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	iGEM Safety and Security Committee
After iGEM	Room 311	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	After iGEM
Synthetic biology and NASA’s Missions	Room 312	1:30 PM - 2:30 PM	iGEM
CCiC Meetup	Room 204	7:00 PM - 8:00 PM	CCiC
Software Tools for Synthetic Biology Workflows	Room 208	7:00 PM - 8:00 PM	iGEM Measurement Committee
Start-up Showcase	Room 210	8:00 PM - 9:00 PM	iGEM

All weekend

IDT Lounge

Friday - Monday | Room 207 | All day | Hosted by IDT

Need a break to relax and recharge from the Giant Jamboree activities? Join us at the IDT lounge! We are excited to again support iGEM teams as you reshape the future of science.

Stop by the lounge to enjoy:
- Comfortable furniture
- Charging stations
- Refreshments and snacks served during breaks (while supplies last!)

Build a Landmark

Friday - Sunday | HQ Table, Outside Hall C | All day | Hosted by iGEM

Looking for a hands-on activity to destress during the Jamboree? Stop by the iGEM HQ desk outside of Hall C and build a famous landmark from your country using marshmallows and toothpicks! We’ll keep the tasty landmarks on display until the end of each day near the HQ Desk.

Friday

Ready to turn your project into a business?

Friday | Room 202 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by Promega

Tom Livelli, Vice President of Life Sciences – Promega Corporation, started his first of multiple companies while studying at Columbia University. Tom sold his most recent startup to Invitrogen (now Thermo Fisher Scientific) and shifted his focus to building innovative programs, teams and technologies within established biotech companies to reinvigorate their scientific focus. Tom will share his story for how he developed the ideas and concepts for his companies through selling them as well as the differences between starting his own company versus working for an established company.

Designing, Recording, and Sharing Experiments with Benchling: A Workshop for iGEM Teams

Friday | Room 208 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by Benchling

Benchling is a data management platform built to help scientists design sequences, record notes and datasets, and collaborate on experiments. Rather than spend time searching across different software tools, paper, and spreadsheets for data and DNA sequences, iGEM teams using Benchling can spend time focusing on what they care about: science. In this interactive workshop, the Benchling team will demonstrate how Benchling's Molecular Biology design and analysis tools, integrated Notebook, and collaboration platform can help iGEM teams work more efficiently. Bring your laptops and we'll help you and your team get started on Benchling, walk through a molecular biology workflow, and share some of our favorite tips and tricks.

How to Successfully Pitch Yourself in Industry & Academia

Friday | Room 210 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by After iGEM

This workshop aims to highlight the similarities and differences between job hunting in academia and industry, emphasise the relevant skills and expertise in each of them, and aid with the communication and preparation of documents (CV, statement of purpose, cover letter) oriented towards the specific context.

- Discussion on the CV and motivation/cover letter content oriented to academic vs industry environments
- Contacting Managers vs Principal Investigators to address open positions - importance of choosing emails vs phone calls

A Hands-on Introduction to Automating Your Protocols with the OT-2

Friday | Room 304 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by Opentrons

In this workshop you will learn how to create and run an automated protocol on the Opentrons OT-2 liquid handling robot. We’ll cover a general introduction to the Opentrons platform for new users and share tips and tricks for using our new Protocol Designer tool, as well as our Python API for more experienced users. Come with your laptops and bring your questions for the Opentrons team!

SynBio Solutions

Friday | Room 306 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by Agilent

Solve real world Synthetic Biology research challenges while exploring Agilent solutions for CRISPR, Genome Engineering, Protein Engineering, NextGen cloning, and more. Prizes for creative solutions, enthusiasm, and teamwork? Of course!

Making Biology Easier to Understand

Friday | Room 312 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by Ginkgo Bioworks

At Ginkgo Bioworks, our mission is to make biology easier to engineer, but how do we make it easier to understand? Come spend time with Ginkgo's Creative Team to discuss how to start conversations about GMOs, craft stories around science, and visually communicate the complexities of biology.

Latin America Meetup

Friday | Room 202 | 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Hosted by After iGEM

Latin America teams, come meet other teams from your region! Teams can share their experiences with one another and network. This session is open to everyone.

High School Team Meetup

Friday | Room 204 | 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Hosted by After iGEM

High school team members and advisors, join students from around the world to network and relax! Let’s develop ideas to enrich the iGEM experience for the unique needs of high school teams. Bring your best ideas to share and any lab hacks that you’ve developed. Meet your new best iGEM friends from around the world and make contacts for your next year’s collaboration. High school iGEM, let’s be anabolic and build a better world!

Sustainable Development Goals Hackathon

Friday | Room 208 | 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Hosted by iGEM

Have you ever wondered what you could do to help tackle some of the climate challenges of our times? Come and join After iGEM to see how you could use your technical and entrepreneurial skills to help us reach the sustainable development goals and take action on creating a sustainable future! Join this challenge where teams compete to develop best solutions to one of the 17 UN sustainability goals using design thinking and team work.

Saturday

Empowering responsible and visionary engineering! Design the future of Human Practices

Saturday | Room 202 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by iGEM Human Practices Committee

In this special session, the Human Practices committee invites you to share your adventures, successes, failures and ideas about Human Practices and to help create the future of Human Practices at iGEM. We’re here to bring teams together, exchange stories, and build a vision to enable more responsible and impactful projects and initiatives.

Career Fair

Saturday | Room 203 | 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM | Hosted by iGEM

As part of the iGEM 2019 Giant Jamboree weekend, iGEM is hosting a career fair event on Saturday, November 2 to foster relationships within the synthetic biology community. This unique opportunity offers top employers a chance to meet with iGEM participants and discuss career opportunities.
Be sure to bring plenty of copies of your resume or CV.
Companies:

- Twist Bioscience
- IDT
- GenScript
- FBI
- Synlogic
- Ginkgo Bioworks
- Battelle

The Mentorship Program 2019

Saturday | Room 204 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by After iGEM

The Mentorship Program for 2019 involved 48 teams and 33 mentors from 26 countries. With a newly formed committee running the program this year, many new ideas have formed regarding improvements in educational resources, communication tools, and quantifying the impact of the program. The workshop we want to run will invite mentors, mentees, and those interested to provide us in-person feedback about how the 2019 competition went, and feedback on our ideas so we can design and implement them more effectively.

Calling all synthetic biology innovators - can you be the hero the world needs?

Saturday | Room 208 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by Twist Bioscience

Design and build a synthetic biology solution to an unusual problem. Come and work with other iGEMers to use your creativity and synbio engineering skills to solve a science fiction dilemma. Best solution wins a prize!

LGBTQ+ in STEM: Stories, Data, and Strategies

Saturday | Room 210 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by iGEM Diversity and Inclusion Committee

LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) people in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields face a number of issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This workshop will explore personal stories, the little data that does exist on LGBTQ+ experiences in STEM, and what we can do to make STEM a more welcoming and inclusive space for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

What kinds of industry jobs could I get with my degree?

Saturday | Room 302 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by Promega

Congratulations on completing your iGEM project! Throughout the competition, you’ve gotten a taste for what you like and dislike, and what you might want to do in the future. The knowledge and skills you’ve developed could open a lot of opportunities in industry and lead to a career you love. In this session, let’s chat about what it’s like to work in industry, the various jobs you can find and the skills needed to get hired for those jobs. Join a panel of Promega employees who all share a scientific background but work in a variety of different areas. You’ll learn about their unique career paths and get your questions answered about careers in industry.

Measurement at iGEM

Saturday | Room 304 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by iGEM Measurement Committee

Join the iGEM Measurement Committee to discuss the state of measurement in iGEM! We will talk about what the committee has been up to this year and want to get input from teams on what’s working for you, what you’d like more help with, and plans for the future.

Modeling Synthetic Biology Systems with MATLAB and SimBiology

Saturday | Room 311 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by MathWorks

Mathematical modelling guides the rational design of genetic modifications and enables synthetic biologists to better analyze and predict system behavior prior to fabrication. Modeling is an important part of synthetic biology and the iGEM competition. This workshop will provide iGEM teams with an introduction to modeling, simulation and analysis with MATLAB and SimBiology using an example from synthetic biology literature. Highlights include:

• Using graphical environment to build models of biological systems
• Simulating dynamics using ordinary differential equation (ODE) solvers
• Interactively exploring model sensitivity to parameters
• Streamlining model exploration via parameter sweeps and sensitivity analyses
• Extending modeling environment by running custom analyses

Safeguarding Science and the Future

Saturday | Room 312 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by FBI

Meet with the FBI and participate in a discussion on the shared responsibility to protect the life sciences as a member of law enforcement or the synthetic biology community (whether you’re an iGEM’er, scientist, biohacker, investor, business person, or all of the above). Find out what it means to be a guardian of science.

Instructor and Judge Human Practice Meetup: Committee Feedback and Interest session

Saturday | Room 202 | 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Hosted by iGEM Human Practices Committee

Interested in joining the HP committee? Have suggestions on how to make HP better from an instructor or judge perspective? Please join us!

LGBTQ+ Meetup

Saturday | Room 204 | 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Hosted by iGEM Diversity and Inclusion Committee

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer iGEM students and advisors, please join us for a casual meet-up event! Meet new friends from around the world for fun, networking, and relaxing.

Mini-Hackathon with MATLAB and SimBiology

Saturday | Room 208 | 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Hosted by MathWorks

Join this mini-hackathon to solve a synthetic biology challenge using MATLAB and SimBiology. Participants are advised to attend MATLAB and SimBiology workshop earlier in the day to get an overview and to get familiar with the tools. Hackathon participants need to bring a laptop with MATLAB and SimBiology installed. If you haven’t already done so, you can request free MATLAB here: https://www.mathworks.com/academia/student-competitions/igem.htmlParticipation is limited to 10 teams. Teams will be selected on a first come first basis. The first team to complete the challenge will win a prize.

Sunday

Making Your Mark: Career Advice from IDT Associates

Sunday | Room 208 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by IDT

Was pursuing a degree in the sciences a good choice? YES. Join us for a panel discussion where you will have the opportunity to ask IDT associates about their professional journeys. Where did their careers begin? How have they evolved? If they had a chance to do it all over again, what would they do differently? Associates from backgrounds in biology, engineering, and marketing will expand your vision about the potential behind your degree.

The Insight of Protein Engineering Shared by TED Fellow Christopher Bahl

Sunday | Room 302 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by Genscript

MolecularCloud featured scientist Dr. Christopher Bahl, who's been selected as a TED Fellow 2019, will deliver a talk to iGEMers about his enthusiasm on research and how his pioneering work on protein design creating an innovative approach with the potential to tackle long-standing challenges in medicine and human health. Also, as a PI leading a protein research group, he will share his prospective and expectation to the Generation Z and his suggestions to the future researchers.

Working Safely with Biology

Sunday | Room 306 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by iGEM Safety and Security Committee

We all think we are working safely, but have you ever really stopped to consider every single risk or adverse outcome before starting your work? Have you ever wondered how you might design a risk management plan from fundamental scientific principles? The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is currently developing a whole new family of standards on risk management. We will demonstrate a suite of tools to help break down projects into individual action steps, and from these, identify the hazards and outcomes to be avoided. The tools then guide users through the process of creating a system to manage risks, avoid ’never events’, and ensure organizational learning.

After iGEM

Sunday | Room 311 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by After iGEM

This workshop aims to share what After iGEM is all about and how you are already a part of it. Join our committees and carry out innitiatives. Gather around to hear the stories of our 2019’s ambassadors, their experiences and how you could become one in 2020. Learn about the opportunities iGEMers have access to, such as the delegate and representative program. Finally, participate in a conversation on the future of after iGEM and your role in it.

Synthetic biology and NASA’s Missions

Sunday | Room 312 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by iGEM

For the last decade, NASA has looked to synthetic biology in pursuit of its mission, including aeronautics, earth science, astrobiology and notably, human exploration. Conversely, NASA advances the fundamental technology of synthetic biology as no one else can because of its leading expertise in the origin of life and life in extreme environments, including the potential for alternate life forms. This enables unique, creative “game changing” advances.

Since 2011 we have hosted an iGEM team of undergraduates from primarily Brown and Stanford, and this year, Princeton, to conduct synthetic biology research at NASA Ames Research Center. Examples of projects to date in our lab include biomaterial production, bioprinting, biomining and the creation of BioWires. The first synbio payload in space is PowerCell – a legacy of the 2011 Brown-Stanford and 2013 Stanford-Brown teams. Launched on a DLR (German Space Agency) satellite December 2018, it is the first step to making our vision of a synthetic biology-enabled human Mars colony a reality.

CCiC Meetup

Sunday | Room 204 | 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Hosted by CCiC

Conference of China iGEMer Community (CCiC) is a national-wide annual conference for Chinese iGEMers, which has a history of 6 years. We want to meet more Chinese iGEMers, to discuss what can we do to promote our community. Anyone interested in our community is welcome to join us.

Software Tools for Synthetic Biology Workflows

Sunday | Room 208 | 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Hosted by iGEM Measurement Committee

How do you illustrate the biological systems that you are building? This workshop will show how to create clear, unambiguous, and easy to understand diagrams using SBOL Visual 2.

Start-up Showcase

Sunday | Room 210 | 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM | Hosted by iGEM

Have you ever wondered what it takes to create your own iGEM start-up? Join us for a introduction to the iGEM Entrepreneurship Program and Panel discussion with iGEM founders at different stages of their start-up journey. They will discuss the challenges they have faced and overcome in creating their iGEM ventures and some of the resources available you to help you take your first steps to creating your iGEM projects beyond the competition!