Motivation, Brainstorming, Research

The month of May allowed the team to meet each other, get aquainted with the space, as well as further investigating the problem we are aiming to solve.

Week 1: May 23-2022

Team conducted safety lab training

Team met for the first time

Toured our lab space

Began preliminary research

Simple design/technology demonstrations

Familiarization with all the facets of iGEM

Week 2: May 30-2022

Continued research

Began brainstorming system and its properties

• 4 Main Aspects:
• Liquid Environment
• Sampling Methods
• Incubation
• Sensing

Very basic functionality and prototyping:

• Pressure/Syringe Pumps
• Sampling System Tubing
• Simple Filtration System

Prototyping, Testing, Demonstration

The majority of June was still part of the creative process, however the team was able to further specify some of our initial designs by including attributes such as materials and dimensions.

Week 3: June 6-2022

Designed initial aquatic environment with prototype of filtering system

Designed second iteration of the sampling system

• Began to incorporate automation via Fluigent pressure pump libraries

Investigated different heating elements and regulatory components for initial incubator prototype

Finalized the use of microcontrollers and raspberry pis

• Decided what aspects of the system will be automiated via the pi

Began to reach out and touch base with other Boston based iGEM teams

Week 4: June 13-2022

Idea to improve modularity of the system with more user-design

Further improved sampling system to reduce the footprint

• Decreased the number of syringe pumps
• Investigated creating a purely pressure based system

Proposed two different iterations of the incubator setups

First of 2 collaborations with the MIT iGEM team

• Visited their lab space and discussed our project ideas for the competition as well as other ideas for all the deliverables
• Read more on our Collaboration page

Week 5: June 20-2022

Finished the 3D modeling for the proposed aquatic environment

Compared logistics of the new and old pressure pump system

• Decided on purely pressure based system

Designed first microfluidic device for droplet generation

Finalized the heating element for the incubator

• Decided on using a cooling chip in reverse

Completed training for microfludiic fabrication

Week 6: June 27-2022

First of several updates with the PI Dr. Densmore

• Communicated updates and projected goals for the rest of the summer

Further refined presentation skills for events upcoming in July

PI's Synthetic Biology Course

• Read about our contributions to this course on the Education page

Education, Connection, Outreach

July was a major opportunity for outreach, allowing us to spread the word of Synthetic Biology to a variety of different communities and audiences.

Week 7: July 4-2022

Final filtration prototype developed

Continued to implement modularity into the system

• Decided to include peristaltic pumps for environment simulation

Pressure system automation began via Arduino microcontrollers

Incubation trials concluded, proceeding to final prototype

SSH into raspberry pi for complete system automaion

Began promotional video preparations

Week 8: July 11-2022

Decided on a logo design

Began to layout system for final housing production

Second round of fabrication demonstrations

Prepared for following education outreach events

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Week 9: July 18-2022

Held two different education outreach sessions

• Discussed Synthetic Biology basics as well as Bioethics
• Read about each of them in the Education section

Began producing the final housing

Incubator completed

Automation begins to be tested via the raspberry pi

Week 10: July 25-2022

Housing was finalized

• Finalized materials for frame, flooring, housing

Storyboard for promotional video compelted

Fabricated the first microfluidic device

Building, Testing, Refining

As the end of the summer approached, it was time to kick things into high gear. A majority of final building took place as well as major progress on the rest of the deliverables.

Week 11: August 1-2022

Housing construction continued

Began design of the web applictaion for automation

• Easy, user-friendly interface to controls the parameters of simulation
• Web app to be deployed on a touchscreen for ease of use

Began updating graphical abstracts

Held an educational outreact program at BioBuilder

• Read more about it in our Education page

Hosted MIT for the second half of our collaboration

• Read more about it in our Collaboration page

Week 12: August 11-2022

Met with Processing Engineer at Deer Island Waterwater Treatment Facility

• Led to modifications in housing via a new multifluid input system
• Read more about it in our Human Practices page

Continued working with touchscreen and web app compatibility

Week 13: August 16-2022

Met with Biosensor Collaborators

• Read more about it in our Human Practices page

Remote team began working on our wiki

• Distributed and assigned pages to team members
• Made minimal aesthetic decisions
• Compiled all work to a single location

On site team worked on the final stages of housing and automation

• Decided how to house and connect final electronic components

Planned commercial content

Week 14: August 22-2022

Added minor adjustments to housing

Remote team continued working on our wiki

• Wrote content for pages
• Began researching and making stylistic choices

Filmed commercial content

Week 15: August 29-2022

Remote team continued working on our wiki

Submitted commercial video

Finished final housing

• Added and connected final tubing and wiring

Fabricated microfluidic chips

Enhancing, Collecting, Finalizing

With the start of the fall season, our team began finalizing our system and its delivarables, including working on our wiki, final presentation, and documenting content.

Week 16: September 5-2022

Team met in person again!!

Fabricated final microfluidic chips

Began running demos in housing setup

• Generated droplets using our sampling system

Continued wiki development

Week 17: September 12-2022

Began working on final presentation

Continued running demos and collecting data

• Ran colored droplet demo

Continued wiki work

Week 18: September 19-2022

Continued final presentation edits

Continued wiki work

Continued running demos and collecting data

• Ran fluorescence demo

Week 19: September 26-2022

Began rehearsing final presentation

Added final plots and images to wiki

Rehearsing, Presenting, Perfecting

By October all the team had left was final tweaks to the wiki, finishing our presentation and rehearsing for the Grand Jamboree.

Week 20: October 3-2022

Final wiki tweaks ahead of freeze

Practice presentation with live audience

Week 22: October 10-2022

All done with wiki!!

Final presentation practice and rehearsals with live audiences