Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, Rahul Rambhatla. A truly mythological being in all sense of the word. His ability to solve the hardest ChemE problem sets only rivals his ability to resist the temptation of meat. Some might question why a chemical engineer leads a synthetic biology project team, Rahul is one of those people. He is not immune to the difficulties of this world however, on late nights you may find him swiping aimlessly on Tinder, but he carries a far bigger weight than most, the looming presence of arranged marriage. On most days you can find him in Weill or Duffield, and on truly (un)lucky days you may see him sporting one of his polos or t-shirts, with his dad bod on full display. Ride on Rahul, ride on.
Amith Punyala (2018)
Pretty much any old Joe Schmoe can count cells under a microscope or click buttons on one of those new-fangled electronic plate readers. But for what we in the trade know as “wetwork” … you need a professional. A professional like Amith Punyala.
After a long and distinguished career liquidating LB stock and spilling brain heart infusion, Amith retired to live a life in peace on his quaint plantation in Georgia, accompanied by his best friends—an exotic tame moth collection. But just when Punyala thought he was out, he was pulled back in. They stole his pipette tips and resold them on the black market. They stored his plates upside down. Worst of all, they destroyed his vintage -20 freezer. This time, it’s no longer just another job. It’s personal.
This autumn, Amith Punyala is out for vengeance, raising his Eppendorf one final time. Watch in your local IMAX® theatre or convention center starting October 24.
This is Amy, basically the most loved member on iGEM. She always comes in clutch when making the most beautiful and aesthetic pages of the website. Not only is she basically a goddess in CS, she is also extremely multitalented, enjoying tennis, hiking, and even cooking (especially in the video game Overcooked)! Even though she is basically in love with Jon Snow (and snow in general), she is definitely not cold in any way. She is actually extremely humble and kind, and always willing to help with anything (since she’s basically a genius at everything). She is just as adorable as the Baymax plushie that she treasures, and deserves all the happiness in the world :).
Ashwin - a man with luscious hair often tied up in a captivating man bun, a man who towers over anyone he meets (I guess it’s fitting that both of his labs are on Tower Road). Now you would probably think that a tall, charming man like him would never be able to get along with a tiny girl like me (I don’t even reach his shoulders). Well, you’re right - we don’t. Whether it is giving each other unimpressed looks or him blasting compressed air at me after every few words that I speak, we just cannot seem to stop bickering with each other. But all in all, he’s a hardworking man that you can definitely count on.
Snake (n.) - 1. any of numerous limbless scaled reptiles (suborder Serpentes synonym Ophidia) with a long tapering body and with salivary glands often modified to produce venom which is injected through grooved or tubular fangs
2. a worthless or treacherous fellow
Darren is a snake.
Greg puts the sex in professexional. His biggest life accomplishment is getting 1069 likes on an instagram post about taco bell. When he's not busy being a douchebag, he's busy taking half-naked pictures of himself near vague bodies of water.
As Katy Perry once said in her OG hit 'Hot 'n Cold', "You change your mind like Isha changes majors." But 2 years in, she is happily married to mechanical engineering. One might compare Isha to her best friend 'Hoot' as they both observe a noctural lifestyle. Even though she is low-key two-timing iGEM with another project team, she is a supremely caring and dedicated person.
Queen of casual roasting and well-meaning sarcasm, Swathi is like the pickle to the iGEM sandwich, addding the little zing you need for things to not go stale. If you ever worried about getting away with a comment that was very attackable, don't worry because Swathi will *call you out.* But, she has another softer side too, also queen of telling you how #relatable your suffering is helping you calm down whenever your feeling overwhelmed. In her free time, find her cranking away at her CS assignments while simultaneously meme-ing everything.
Queen of casual roasting and well-meaning sarcasm, Swathi is like the pickle to the iGEM sandwich, addding the little zing you need for things to not go stale. If you ever worried about getting away with a comment that was very attackable, don't worry because Swathi will *call you out.* But, she has another softer side too, also queen of telling you how #relatable your suffering is helping you calm down whenever your feeling overwhelmed. In her free time, find her cranking away at her CS assignments while simultaneously meme-ing everything.
Behind a frail exterior, Max's spirit burns with a slightly less frail flame. A veritable powerhouse, Max can often be seen roaming the hallways of Weill Hall or the atria of Duffield pondering where exactly his life went wrong. However, Max is so unafraid of failure that he chose to major in two difficult STEM majors (Biological Engineering and Computer Science) so he could fail twice as much. The original formulator of our current project, Max's knowledge of seemingly inane facts amazes us all. A founding member of the iGEM Chicken Club, his clout (and determination to eat chicken wings) knows no bounds. As an aspiring...something, Max is a true Renaissance man, splitting his time between such diverse fields as cooking, research, crying, and occasionally, homework.
As an Operations Research major, Maia is critical to the operations of Cornell iGEM’s research. Her entrepreneurial spirit drives the business sub team. She has supported many of the team’s efforts in fundraising, entrepreneurship, and patent seeking. When she is not busy sleeping in hot tubs, she enjoys tarnishing the online reputation of local public transportation services.
Bio student: the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell-iGEM member: 😤😤 Don’t forget ⛔️⛔️the powerhouse ⚡️⚡️of iGEM 🤗🔬Presenting Raymond👨🔬👨🔬, one of the hardest working 💦💦members of the team. Expect ✅✅ nothing less from this top 🏅🏅chemistry major ⚗️⚗️ - he’s got a delta G < 0 📈📈kind of spontaneity 💥💥but doesn’t quit 🙅🏻♂️🙅🏻♂️until he hits the stop codon 🛑🛑. Ladies, if you’re looking 👀👀 for him, he’ll probably be in the Ke lab 🤓🤓, attending every iGEM-related event as our poster boy 💙💜and head spokesperson 🗣🗣, flexing 💪🏼💪🏼his Chinese Yoyo skills 😲😲, or praying 🙌🏻🙌🏻 at his shrine for George Church and Gregor Mendel F2 generation 1:2:1 🌱🌸🌸🌱
Constantly working behind the scenes, one of the essential members of Cornell iGEM, our very own Rohit Bandaru! A senior/M.Eng student focusing in CS and ECE here, Rohit has held many important roles as a Wet Lab member and now Business team member of iGEM. As a result of Rohit interning at Amazon this past summer, his smile now always resembles an arrow. In his free time, Rohit has been known to enjoy working on autonomous bicycles and devouring the spiciest of foods.
Hi, I’m Saachi. Majoring in CS and minoring in Applied Economics. Business lead, Adidas enthusiast, and Saachmaster. When I’m not coding, I’m probably spending too much time at Mehak. I love alpacas so much that I stuck a poster of one in my room and got a bunch of alpaca stickers for my laptop. Other than staring at alpacas, I like to blast music through my headphones and sometimes I worry I am losing my hearing. I wonder why.
If you ever have trouble deciding between anything, go to Sneha. Sneha will figure out your life for you and make you feel like a better person, just be sure to catch her in Duffield any time after the sun goes down and before it comes up. She might be busy destroying ChemE problem sets, but she'll make time for you. Sneha's skills include matching her makeup perfectly with her intricately patterned clothes, and giving motivational speeches.
the life of yannie
black clothes >> any other color clothing
working overtime on weekends >> sleeping in
meche >> bme but also plants and bacteria 4 lyfe
farming all your own vegetables >> going grocery shopping
any other nickname >> being called yannifer
Yeojin's Life Advice:
1. Rahul is fake
2. when working with black powders, wear white shirts so the stain is more apparent
3. ChemEs are snakes
4. It's all about the french tucks
5. food is life. life is food. but also cats. and dogs. and makeup.
6. The most properest of greetings is friendo but yeojinnie minnie is also aight
Not only is Ping a CS whiz, but she's also an incredible musician, sharing her musical talent with the world through flute ensemble and her love for piano. She also loooooves cats and hedgehogs...especially cats. More specifically, Ping is OBSESSED with Pooky the Munchkin, an instagram cat star (who is pretty freaking adorable). You'll probably have to scroll for ~five minutes of consecutive cat posts when looking through her insta feed. As a person, Ping is sweet and adorable but also one of the most reliable and capable people you'll meet who's ready to take on any challenge thrown at her. She's a true homie when you're struggling and dying in CS 3110 and 3410 :').
Fion is like drinking warm kombucha on a hot summer day. The first sip is pungent, but the rest of the bottle is refreshing and delicious. Feon may not look it but she is a Senior majoring in Human Biology, Health, and Society, and what she lacks in size she makes up for in drive and ferocity. Faon has a ton of great character traits and is a born scientist/future physician. Let's talk about what Fuon would also be great at. Foin would be a phenomenal basketball player. Foen would be amazing at live television. Foan would be great at being an archaeologist. Foun would be probably the greatest White House Chief of Staff ever in office. More importantly however, noiF is an invaluable member of our team and it wouldn't be the same without her. We're truly lucky to have Fyon.
🤯, 🍊, 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣ 💸👾,💻⚗️
Meet Carol, otherwise known as the CU Ghost! Legend says Carol originated from the distant lands of the Bay area in California. As a member of Cornell iGEM, she quickly rose up the ranks until she peaked, obtaining the coveted title of Sub-Team Lead. Unfortunately, in her junior year at Cornell, Carol contracted Med School Apps. Since then no one has heard from her, as she vanished off the face of the Earth. Every once in a while though, if he/she is lucky, a stray member may hear whispers in the basement of Weill Hall from this passed PCR Goddess or spot a brief glimpse of her at a casual G-body meeting.
Ann Metzloff, ladies and gentlemen! Many of you may know her as the namesake and co-creator of the (future) Nobel Prize-winning q5annMich PCR protocol, but she is much more than that. A chemical engineer by day, Ann moonlights as a lab queen by mid-afternoon, and she likes to spend her free time commuting to and from her dorm in Schuyler House. Zonk is one of the many words that she likes. If you need someone to get the job done, she's your girl! Night may have fallen before she's made it to you from Schuyler, but let me tell you, it's worth the wait. Gosh, if you want to know the one word that describes Ann best, read the first letter of every sentence.
Charles is like an onion. Not only does he make us cry, he's a multilayered person with potentially more than one positive quality. A hardworking, kind, and devout Christian boy, Charles seems to embody everything we'd want in our future child's spouse. However, peel back this layer, and you're confronted by a mass of degeneracy, tenuously held together by memes and K-Pop. We've only gotten to this layer, but I'm sure it doesn't get much better from here. Degeneracy aside, Charles is an integral member of the Cornell iGEM team, effortlessly juggling lab responsibilities with his double (triple?!) major and spontaneous bubble tea appointments. Expect things from Charles, some of which may be good, in the future.
A sophomore studying biological engineering, Michelle is an integral member of the wet lab subteam. She skillfully balances her schoolwork and lab work and is always willing to lend a helping hand. Her enthusiasm is clearly appreciated by others, and people are excited to see her wherever she goes! Michelle also has a keen sense for locating free food, which is much appreciated by her other teammates. When not working in the lab, Michelle amazes us all with her outdoorsiness and sense of adventure! She’s a member of Outdoor Odyssey and frequently enjoys trips camping and rock climbing. We are lucky to have Michelle’s dedication and talent!!
Have you ever come across a quokka? This previously endangered animal became internet famous and is known as “the happiest animal in the world.” Well look no further because we have our own quokka here on the team! Hailing from San Diego, this mans resembles the appearance of the cute smol animal like no other. If you ever need to find him, 99.99% chance he is in Uris library, sipping cocktails in the cocktail lounge. Be careful not to give him too much because he might just fall asleep on you. However, you must know that his drink of choice is tea. Although he doesn't have it often, when he does, he brews really big pots of tea.
Behram bʌ-räm bae-räm
1. Dude who can and will pull off any outfit be it a bucket hat, Jean jacket or light up shoes it will look good on him. Oh and don’t forget the classy penny board.
2. Somebody who knows everything about cars, literally everything. You mention a season of Top Gear and he can tell you every car in every episode, including the bad ones.
3. A caretaker of fish, who will care for them, scrub them and when it comes time, bury them properly.
His imagination is endless, his heart his huge so if you ever need some tips or want to bounce wacky ideas off somebody, or just want a wholesome conversation, just mention Jeff Buckley’s hair (which you should always be doing anyway) and Behram will show up to help.
When you meet Matthew, the first thing you notice is his glorious beard. The second thing you notice is his definition. My Buddha, that man is so defined that he puts the dictionary to shame. His arms are just soooo.. *cough*...right, this is a bio about matt. So Matt likes to go to the gym, he works out pretty often. Whenever he does, he just looks so hot in that tight outfit. I often just love watching him squat because of that well defined A-...*cough*. Sorry, bad habits die hard.