Team:British Columbia/Team
Table of Contents
Team Members
Morris Huang (Director & Wet Lab Lead) is a third year Microbiology and Immunology student. This is his second year participating in iGEM and he absolutely loves it. Through iGEM, he wants to be able make a change utilizing the tools of synthetic biology.
Emilia Chen is a third year student in the combined major of Microbiology & Immunology and Computer Science. Through iGEM, she gains so much in terms of lab, outreach, and software skills, and, most importantly, in meeting a group of amazing like-minded friends. Outside of iGEM, she enjoys exploring places for good food, finding new recipes and trying them out, and travelling.
Tylo Roberts is a second year student in a combined major of Microbiology & Immunology and Computer Science. He joined as a first year passionate about synthetic biology and bioengineering and enjoys working in the lab and learning about emerging fields and research in synthetic biology. When not studying or doing iGEM work he enjoys many hobbies such as badminton, skiing and hiking around British Columbia.
Samuel King (Design Lead) is a third year Honours Biology student, with a passion for natural design and sustainability -- particularly how humans can learn from nature and use it as a model for our own designs. He is also very intrigued by the implications and potential of genetic engineering. He joined iGEM because he loves the idea of contributing to the exploding field of synthetic biology, being at the forefront of science and technology, and being part of a team of like-minded individuals. Outside of iGEM, he enjoys doing anything he can to be outdoors.
Samuel Hahn (Modelling Lead) is a third year Chemical & Biological Engineering student who is interested in developing novel biosynthetic industrial processes using genetically engineered microbes. He is also the President of Engineers for a Sustainable World at UBC.
Benjamin Brett (Finance Lead) is a third year Honours Biology student. He joined the iGEM team to try and solve problems in the world with the use of synthetic biology. Benjamin enjoys exploring, playing video games, and hiking around beautiful British Columbia.
Shira Agam is a third year honours biophysics student and is interested in crossing boundaries between scientific disciplines and applying them to understanding fundamental processes in the natural world. She plans on persuing a career in research and enjoys experiencing all components of the lab and collaborating with other passionate students. While not studying for her science degree, Shira is busy practicing her trumpet for her other major in orchestral performance.
Ariel Qi (Human Practices Lead) is a third year Honours Cellular, Anatomical and Physiological Sciences student. She joined the iGEM team to be part of a multi-disciplinary project revolving around the fascinating field of synthetic biology. Outside of iGEM, Ariel enjoys playing with cats and doodling.
Ahmed Abdelmoneim is a fourth year Combined Honours, Computer Science and Microbiology & Immunology student. He joined iGEM as a chance for him to work on a multi-disciplinary project that fulfills his diverse and ever growing interests. Outside of iGEM, Ahmed is a huge rock and blues fan, and spends most of his free time jamming out on his guitar, he also loves to go scuba diving whenever he has the chance.
Justin Chhuor is a third year student studying Medical Laboratory Science. He joined the UBC iGEM team as a way to learn more about synthetic biology and explore how it can be used to develop novel solutions to solve real-world problems. During his spare time, he enjoys playing badminton and reading.
Daniel McClement (Fundraising Lead) is a fourth year Chemical & Biological Engineering student who joined iGEM to learn more about synthetic biology and microbiology. iGEM has given Daniel the opportunity to gain lab experience he would not have otherwise received in his engineering courses. Daniel Is hoping to pursue a career in biomedical engineering. Outside of iGEM, Daniel enjoys playing hockey and watercolor painting.
Michael Yoon is a third year student in Microbiology & Immunology. He joined the iGEM team to learn more about experimental lab techniques and to perform variety of experiments involving synthetic biology. Outside of research, he enjoys playing badminton and table tennis.
Chanwoo Ho is a fourth year Integrated Sciences student who joined iGEM to gain experience in life science research. He enjoys making wooden furniture and playing the guitar as a hobby.
Alex Gaudi is a fourth year Applied Biology student who first joined iGEM to gain more lab experience in microbiology. Outside of iGEM, he enjoys reading sci-fi.
Nikolaos Ioannidis (Hardware Lead) is a third year Engineering Physics student.
George Xu is a second year Engineering Physics student.
Advisors
Avery Noonan is a PhD student in Genome Science & Technology. In his free time, he likes to play basketball, volleyball.
Evan Gibbard is a first year Master’s student in Medical Genetics at UBC. He initially joined iGEM to explore the field of synthetic biology. This year, he’s enjoyed guiding and mentoring the new team as a graduate advisor. Outside of his studies, Evan enjoys hiking, playing piano, and biking.
Alina Kunitskaya is a Master’s student in Biomedical Engineering. She first joined iGEM as an undergraduate student for an exciting opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary team and learn about the growing field of synthetic biology. This year she returned as a graduate advisor for her 4th iGEM year. Outside of school and iGEM, Alina enjoys running, hiking, and learning about space exploration.
Thanos Kritharis is a Master's student in Chemical & Biological Engineering.
Kevin Dsouza is a graduate student in Bioinformatics at UBC.
Principle Investigators
Dr. Steven Hallam is a professor with the Microbiology and Immunology department at the University of British Columbia. He is also the director of the Ecosystem Services, Commercialization Platforms and Entrepreneurship (ECOSCOPE) program. His main research areas include microbial metagenomics, construction of environmental genomic libraries, and the generations of computational tools for taxonomic and functional binning, population genome assembly, and comparative community analysis.
Dr. David Oliver is an Instructor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at UBC. He delivers innovative course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) in microbiology. He is also the Coordinator of the Biotechnology program at UBC.
