Team:Macquarie Australia/Attributions
ATTRIBUTIONS
Macquarie University offers extensive support to encourage undergraduate students from all disciplines, with diverse skills and interests in synthetic biology, to apply for a position in the annual Macquarie iGEM team. Successful team members are subject to two rounds of selection: an online application form and an interview with academics from the Department of Molecular Sciences. In 2019, participation in iGEM may contribute towards undergraduate course credit through completion of the Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) unit (FOSC300) or Molecular Sciences Capstone unit (CBMS330).
Team Member Contributions
We would like to acknowledge the incredible contributions of each team member. Working in teams can be challenging at times, however Team HyDRA formed a strong, cohesive group. All members worked together effectively with excellent communication skills, creation of a supportive environment and a consistently impressive level of dedication and passion maintained throughout the project from start in July 2019 to end by all of our eleven team members.
Our team members:
Alice Edwards - Dry Lab, Sponsorship, Community Outreach and Wiki
Anika Reza - Wet Lab, Human Practices and Wiki
Carly Carter - Collaborations, Human Practices and Wiki
Daniel Hulleza - Wet Lab, Community Outreach, Human Practices and Wiki
Elijah Gibbons - Wet Lab and Wiki
Hannah Zhu - Wet Lab, Digital Design and Wiki
Jerresa Jabson - Wet Lab, Collaborations, Community Outreach, Human Practices and Wiki
Josip Mujic - Wet Lab, Part Design and Wiki
Sam Beach - Wet Lab and Wiki
Tasneem Khandaker - Wet Lab, Collaborations and Sponsorship and Wiki
Zoe Wong - Wet Lab, Community Outreach and Human Practices and Wiki
Project Origins and Inspiration
Our project was partially inspired by the work contributed by the 2017 Macquarie Australia iGEM team and 2017 Tec Chihuahua team. We would like to acknowledge the characterisation work contributed by both of these teams.
Project and Lab Support
Associate Professor Louise Brown: Recruited the 10th Macquarie iGEM team, guided and supported us throughout the project, managed the team budget and provided invaluable feedback for documents. We are grateful for the many hours A/Prof Louise has spent in building a great iGEM team.
Professor Robert Willows: Explained the science behind our project, assisted with troubleshooting in the laboratory, designed parts, conducted measurements for assays and analysed experimental results. We are grateful for the patience Professor Robert has to spared us to help construct our biosensor.
Thi Huynh: Supervised laboratory work, helped us to stay focused, troubleshooted laboratory protocols, ordered resources, organised shipping and handling of local and international packages and was always willing to help with everything iGEM related. We are grateful for her significant contribution to our project and we would not have accomplished our goals without her.
Dr Edward Moh: Tirelessly motivated the team throughout our project, supervised laboratory work, answered questions about laboratory protocols and proposed new ideas and perspectives. We are grateful for the advice and guidance Dr Edward has given us throughout our project.
Dr Paul Jaschke: Designed parts and assisted with part assembly, provided advice on laboratory techniques and facilitated interviews for human practices.
Ari Edmonds: Ran the July iGEM boot camp when we started our project, provided insight to the competition (2017 and 2018 Macquarie Australia iGEM team member), supervised laboratory work, assisted with troubleshooting protocols and facilitated interviews for human practices and collaborations.
Jocelyn Johns: Provided advice on how to achieve the medal criteria, proposed new ideas and perspectives, helped with track selection and provided insight to the competition (2017 Macquarie Australia iGEM team member).
Dr Roy Walker: Assisted with troubleshooting laboratory protocols and provided contacts for collaborations.
Samuel King: Assisted in designing our biosensor, guided the human practices team, facilitated interviews for human practices and provided general advice throughout our project.
Dominic Logel: Assisted with biofilm formation assays and PCR protocols and provided advice on other laboratory protocols.
Russel Vincent: Assisted with determining protocols and equipment for biofilm assays and troubleshooted laboratory protocols.
Dr Kerstin Petroll: Provided us with support for new lab experimental procedures such as transformation via electroporation, general troubleshooting protocols and gave feedback for the Synthetic Biology Australasia presentation.
Dr Tony Jerkovic: Provided us with support for new lab experimental procedures such as hydrogen gas detection and general troubleshooting protocols.
Dr Briardo Llorente: Provided support and advice throughout our project.
Mark Tran: Assisted with organising the iGEM stall for Open Day and assisted with laboratory access throughout the semester.
Sponsors
Macquarie University - Department of Molecular Sciences: We would like to thank the Department for their generous contribution, in addition to providing laboratories, resources and dedicated staff to facilitate our project.
Macquarie University - Biomolecular Discovery and Design Research Centre: We would like to thank the BDDRC for their generous contribution towards our project.
Bioplatforms Australia: We would like to thank Bioplatforms Australia, and in particular, Andrew Gilbert, for their generous financial support as a Platinum tier sponsor in 2019. We are grateful for their ongoing support for Macquarie iGEM throughout the years.
NSW Department of Industry: We would like to thank the NSW Department of Industry for their generous contribution towards our project and ongoing support for Macquarie iGEM teams.
Macquarie University - Student Representative Council: We would like to thank the Macquarie University SRC for their generous financial contribution towards our project as a Gold tier sponsor, enabling our team to travel to Boston to present at the Giant Jamboree Conference.
LabCyte: We would like to thank LabCyte for their generous contribution towards our project as a Silver tier sponsor, and for their ongoing support for Macquarie iGEM teams.
Twist: We would like to thank Twist for their free 10 kb of gBlocks.
New England Biolabs: We would like to thank New England Biolabs for their generous kit, cell, and enzymes.
Integrated DNA Technologies: We would like to thank IDT for their free 20 kb of gBlocks.
Human Practices Interviewees
Paul Beylerian - Fire and Rescue NSW: We would like to thank Paul for meeting us on campus to discuss applications of gas detectors and issues with current technologies. His knowledge provided us with feedback on our prototype design and helped us identify issues our biosensor may resolve.
Darren Wells - Maximator: We would like to thank Darren for participating in a phone call interview to discuss customisation of high pressure pipelines and challenges in the design process. His expertise in the high pressure industry identified engineering considerations and encouraged us to look further into accessible and user friendly designs of our biosensor, particularly with the green fluorescent protein.
Mark Edwards - Hazer Group: We would like to thank Mark for participating in a phone call interview to discuss low emission hydrogen production and safety parameters in industrial quantity production. We also discussed features expected of a hydrogen gas detector which helped us to shape our prototype design specifically for the hydrogen gas production industry.
Chris Dolman - BOC: We would like to thank Chris for meeting us on campus to discuss industrial gas production and current safety measures in an industrial environment. Important factors such as cost, sensor location and cross contamination were mentioned and were considered in our prototype design.
Our Many Other Valuable Supporters
Dr Vanessa Pirotta - Science communicator: We would like to thank Dr Vanessa who made suggestions to help us reach a wider audience through social media and identified techniques to explain our research in simple terms.
Vanessa Retief: We would like to thank Vanessa for designing and digitising our amazing HYDRA logo.
Associate Professor Joanne Jamie - Macquarie University: We would like to thank A/Prof Joanne for reviewing our early sponsorship document and organising a stall for us during Macquarie University Open Day.
Synthetic Biology Australasia: We would like to thank the SBA for facilitating the Brisbane Conference to enable our team to have the opportunity to present our project, and network with the synthetic biology community in October 2019.
CSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform: We would like to thank CSIRO for their generous contribution which allowed two students to present at the Synthetic Biology Australasia Conference in Brisbane.
Associate Professor Anwar Sunna - Macquarie University: We would like to thank A/Prof Anwar for student registration tickets for the October 2019 Synthetic Biology Australasia Conference in Brisbane, Australia.
Brigidine College St Ives: We would like to thank Brigidine College St Ives for providing us with the opportunity to engage in community outreach with their senior science students, to present our iGEM project, and spread awareness about synthetic biology.
Alison Akhurst - Student from Brigidine College St Ives: We would like to thank Alison for her feedback and suggestions for our biosensor prototype design involving integration into existing headpiece equipment for emergency responders.
James Brown - Bondi Bioworks: We would like to thank James for meeting with us to discuss entrepreneurship in synthetic biology and his experience in the field.
Our Indiegogo crowdfunding supporters: We would like to thank the many people (family, friends, advisors and strangers) who generously donated to our campaign page.
