Team:BostonU/NEGEM

From 2014.igem.org

• TEAM
• PROJECT
  • Overview
  • Priority Encoder
  • MoClo Assembly Method
  • Low Copy Backbones
  • Tandem Promoters
  • Fusion Proteins
  • Repressor Proteins
  • Multiplexing
  • BioDesign Automation Tools
  • Future Work
• ACHIEVEMENTS
  • Data Collected
  • Parts Submitted
  • Chimera Workflow
  • Chimera Example
  • Medal Fulfillment
• NOTEBOOK
  • Training
  • Protocols
  • Backbones
  • Tandem Promoters and Repressors
  • Fusion Proteins
• CONSIDERATIONS
  • Collaborations
  • Measurement Track
  • Safety
  • Interlab Study
  • NEGEM
  • Policy and Practices
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

NEGEM

Description New England iGEM, or NEGEM, is a gathering of iGEM teams from the New England and the Northeast. Started back in the fall of 2012 by the Boston University team, NEGEM has become a BU team tradition! In 2012 and 2013, NEGEM was a one-day event that took place a few weeks before the Regional Jamboree as a venue for teams to practice their presentations and get feedback on improving their talks. The Third Annual NEGEM meet up was a 3-fold event spread throughout the course of the summer and fall. Unlike previous years, we decided to kick things off in June with NEGEM 3.1 so the 6 participating teams could get feedback early on in their project development. We were fortunate to have Dr. Kim de Mora from iGEM Headquarters attend, along with Measurement Track Chair Dr. Jacob Beal from BBN Technologies. We met up again in August for NEGEM 3.2 to discuss progress, critique the introduction and motivation slides for each project, and form collaborations between the 5 participating teams. Ana Sifuentes from iGEM HQ also joined us for the NEGEM 3.2. Finally, NEGEM 3.3 was in early October where 4 participating teams ran through their more polished presentations, including more results and conclusions. This time around, everyone gave detailed feedback to each team on presentation style, data representation, and narrative, thus helping each team improve their slides and presentations in preparation for the Giant Jamboree.

NEGEM 3.1 June Meetup: Friday, June 20, 2014

Team Rutgers presenting their project in NEGEM 3.1

The first meetup focused on discussing the teams' ideas and plans for the summer to give teams the chance to get feedback at the start of their projects. Participants included BostonU, Harvard BioDesign, MIT, Rutgers, Tufts, and WPI Worcester.

Team Harvard BioDesign presenting their project in NEGEM 3.1

Teams presented a brief overview of their project along with their specific summer goals, then discussed alternative ways to approach their projects, and ended the day with brainstorming ways for the teams to collaborate on either experiments or policy and practices (or both!). We also held a discussion session where students from the six iGEM teams discussed ways they use, or could use, software in their projects.

Dr. Kim de Mora

Dr. Kim de Mora from iGEM HQ was also here to share his experience with iGEM and discuss the evolution of iGEM over time. He also went over what the iGEM foundation expects students to learn from this experience. Dr. Traci Haddock, the BostonU Team Advisor, also went through some of the "fine print" associated with iGEM and helped answer questions from the new iGEM teams. Lunch was sponsored by the Bio-Design Automation Consortium.

Team MIT presenting their progress in NEGEM 3.2

NEGEM 3.2 August Meetup: Wednesday, August 6, 2014 The second NEGEM meet up had 5 teams present their work up to that point and talked about progress and challenges in particular. Participants included BostonU, Harvard BioDesign, MIT, Tufts, and WPI Worcester.

Team Tufts presenting their progress in NEGEM 3.2

Students broke into groups and discussed the pros and cons of each team's presentation and project. To help facilitate this discussion, students were asked to fill out a brief presentation questionnaire to get teams thinking about their slides in more detail. The PDF of the questionnaire is below. We wrapped up NEGEM 3.2 with an open discussion about possible collaborations and talked about how teams incorporated software into their work, if appropriate. We also had a discussion about the Giant Jamboree presentations and posters. Lunch was once again sponsored by the Bio-Design Automation Consortium. Questionnaire NEGEM 3.2

Team WPI-Worcestor presenting their work in NEGEM 3.3

NEGEM 3.3 October Meetup: Saturday, October 4, 2014 Four teams came together to formally present their work in preparation for the Giant Jamboree with a complete 20-minute presentation. We used this meetup to give detailed feedback on slide content and narrative. It was also an excellent practice round for teams to field questions on their research from team advisors as well as their peers. Participants included BostonU, MIT, Rutgers, Tufts, and WPI Worcester.

Team BU presenting their work in NEGEM 3.3

Similar to NEGEM 3.2, each team left this meet up with a stack of "feedback forms", which were filled out by the other attendees. These forms had questions focusing on the clarity and aesthetics of the presentation, with a particular focus on how data is presented. All participants were asked to fill out this highly detailed presentation questionnaire to get teams thinking about their slides in more detail. The PDF of the questionnaire is below. Lunch was sponsored by the BostonU, MIT, and WPI Worcester teams. Questionnaire NEGEM 3.3

All attendees for NEGEM 3.1

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