Notebook

Wet Lab: The subteam began to brainstorm for the new project season. They learned about the role of WL within the iGEM team and got oriented with the lab space.
Product Development: The subteam met for the first time and began brainstorming. We also went over basic biological engineering concepts as a introduction to the Wet Lab aspect of iGEM. For brainstorming, the subteam looked into previous winners and assessed what those teams did well.
PnP: PnP subteam members met for the first time, briefly discussing new member training and education. Through brainstorming, members analyzed the integrated human practices section of previous winners.
Wiki: Wiki had their first subteam meeting. They went over the basic skills of HTML, CSS for web development. Then, the members had their first assignment, which was to redesign one of the old Cornell iGem’s wikis. They also had to work in groups for their brainstorming assignment, researching another team’s project and identifying their strengths and medals.
Business: The business subteam held our first meeting. In addition to working on our general team brainstorming process we start reviewing business plans that were nominated for best supporting entrepreneurship awards and on finding applicable grants for our team to apply for.

Wet Lab: Wet Lab had its first modeling training and learned to use MATLAB to model biological processes. We continued to brainstorm. In lab, new members learned how to use PCR to amplify DNA and perform gel electrophoresis to analyze the results of their PCR.
Product Development: This week the subteam worked on developing their own project ideas as well as further training. For this week, the training project was on learning ECE components and creating low and highpass circuits.
PnP: PnP subteam members conducted research to inform their own project ideas for brainstorming purposes. After establishing these proposals, they analyzed how the subteam’s roles and responsibilities would apply to these projects.
Wiki: This week, wiki members came up with their own ideas for the brainstorming assignment to present to the team. They also continued discussing their progress on the assignment as they created a different color scheme and organization for the 2018 Cornell Wiki page.
Business: This week the business subteam continued brainstorming ideas for potential team-wide projects. Additionally, business team members were compiling lists of alumnus at different companies to reach out for fundraising goals.

Wet Lab: The subteam continued with the brainstorming process, as well as learning to use MATLAB to model biochemical processes.
Product Development: The subteam continued with the brainstorming process. Additionally, PD worked on wiring the circuit schematics from the previous week on an actual breadboard.
PnP: This week, the subteam continued brainstorming. Furthermore, all subteam members conducted mock interviews in preparation for effectively communicating with potential stakeholders.
Wiki: This week, the members had a group meeting with our brainstorming groups, narrowing down our individual ideas to a total of five project ideas per group. They also presented their completed Wiki pages in the Wiki subteam meetings, sharing their changes and reasoning.
Business: The business subteam continued work on brainstorming. The business subteam finalized a list of alumnus to reach out for fundraising efforts.

Wet Lab: The team continued brainstorming while working on practicing MATLAB skills.
Product Development: The subteam continued with the brainstorming process and began Computer Science training. For this training, the members had to model cell growth within a bioreactor.
PnP: PnP continued with the brainstorming process and started exploring potential scientific contacts to reach out to. Each member contacted two individuals, applicable to the brainstorming ideas, for informational interviews this week.
Wiki: Wiki split up subteam responsibilities for the slides and also worked on researching ethics, feasibility and uniqueness for the project idea. In the Wiki subteam meeting, we talked about the second assignment, which was a Figma design project to recreate an existing webpage and then also come up with an improved design.
Business: Business subteam members continued working on brainstorming efforts. Business subteam members also conducted presentations on the critiques and flaws on the prior years business plan.

Wet Lab: The team continued with brainstorming assignments. They worked on MATLAB assignments to model different biochemical kinetics and produce powerful visuals. They began to learn how to create genetic sequences in SnapGene.
Product Development: The subteam continued with brainstorming assignments. The subteam also began working on a group Matlab assignment in which they had to model the growth rate of two bacteria that were in competition.
PnP: Pnp discussed the difference between interviewing professionals for technical interviews, and interviewing stakeholders. Pnp also ran practice interviews with the Wet Lab and PD leads. Also continued to reach out for technical interviews.
Wiki: Wiki continued working on their brainstorming, as well as discussing their designs for the Figma assignment.
Business: Members continue working on their brainstorming, as well as analyzing past business plans for strengths and weaknesses.

Wet Lab: The team continued to brainstorm while working with SnapGene to create genetic sequences for projects in the brainstorming process.
Product Development: The subteam continued with the brainstorming process. The subteam also completed their group assignment in Matlab and learned about Mechanical Engineering concepts. The members began working on a CAD training assignment.
PnP: Pnp worked on reaching out for technical interviews for each of the brainstorming projects as well as on making a general list of stakeholders for this upcoming year.
Wiki: This week, members had to further analyze and provide research on the same 2 ideas from the last brainstorming assignment. Wiki discussed the projects and raised any questions or concerns that they had.
Business: This week the members continue to work on and expand their brainstorming assignment from the previous week. Members run swot analysis and stakeholder analysis as well as competitor analysis on the brainstorm product of their choice. Members also create presentations detailing strengths and weaknesses from past business plans.

Wet Lab: The team continues to use SnapGene and MATLAB to create models and constructs for the projects remaining in the brainstorming process.
Product Development: The subteam worked on brainstorming assignments and finished their CAD assignment from the previous week. The members also began working on sketches of the hardware aspects for each of the project ideas left in the running.
PnP: Working on reaching out to stakeholders and conducting technical interviews for our final two brainstorming projects.
Wiki: This time, members were assigned to new groups and we had to work on one project idea. For wiki, members came up with design and color scheme ideas as well as features for accessibility. They presented their redesigns for the Wiki assignment in the subteam meeting.
Business: Members had multiple activities to cultivate skills essential for business analysis. Members spent time learning how to design infographics and look out for essential details to maintain consistency. Team members also worked on furthering brainstorming ideas and performed data analysis and competitor analysis for their respective brainstorming teams.

Wet Lab: The team decided on a final project idea. They got to work designing the genetic circuit and looking into metabolic pathways that would be useful during the design process.
Product Development: The subteam worked on decided a final project idea for this year. The subteam also got an introduction to using Arduinos and worked on a training assignment in which they had to wire an LCD Display and code it to say “Cornell iGEM”.
PnP: We continued to reach out to stakeholders and conduct technical interviews. We discussed pros and cons of each final project to decide which one to go with. We also started discussing potential outreach opportunities for both projects.
Wiki: For the project’s wiki ideas, members came up with several logo ideas for the web page on Figma. They drew up sketches for a mascot idea, which was included in the presentation for wiki ideas. For our wiki subteam meeting, members participated in a mini workshop on JS, learning about several features about JavaScript and were introduced to the next assignment. The next assignment involves enhancing another iGem team’s wiki page with Javascript.
Business: This week, business members came up with fundraising ideas to gain money for travel to the Jamboree as well as started grant research. Members also continued working on their respective brainstorming ideas.

Wet Lab: The team continues with the construct work from last week. They found potential parts that the team could use to create plasmids to transform into our bacteria.
Product Development: The subteam began working on the final project idea, MicroMurals. The subteam worked on further brainstorming the hardware and software aspects of the project.
PnP: Pnp continued conducting interviews for the final project, MicroMurals. The subteam also continued to brainstorm outreach events to set up for the summer.
Wiki: Members continued working with Javascript features on a webpage, working with text and image animations.
Business: Members continued working on designing fundraisers and worked on specific grant applications as well as research for more. Members also learned how to send mass emails using Mail Merge. Members also continued to work on brainstorming ideas.

SPRING BREAK

Wet Lab: The team wrote a progress report for the rest of Cornell iGEM and worked to prepare slides for the role of WL in this year’s project.
Product Development: The subteam wrote up a progress report for PD so far. Within this report, plans for revamping the bioreactor, converting the 3D printer to a 3D bioprinter, and the MicroMurals App were mentioned.
PnP: Pnp started getting ready for the first outreach event for the project at Splash! Cornell. Worked on presentation and different activities for the high school students to do that related to synthetic biology.
Wiki: The members finished up with some ideas and mockups for the project, MicroMurals and continued learning about Javascript features.
Business: Planned a trivia fundraising event. Additionally drafted up a list of grants that are applicable to MicroMurals to raise funds.

Wet Lab: The team met and continued to find parts that would be useful in CuGEM’s final construct, as well as working with MATLAB.
Product Development: The subteam worked on a timeline for our project and went through the various special awards that the subteam should aim for. The members continued developing the hardware and software aspects of the project.
PnP: Pnp went over medal criteria for bronze, silver, and goal and discussed our strategy to implement our interviews, human practices, and outreach events to best fit medal criteria. Subteam also continued to reach out to stakeholders and for technical interviews.
Wiki: This week, wiki worked on color scheme, accessibility, and mascot designs. The members finalized some designs and made mockups for the logo and banner, as well as prototypes for the app. They used Figma for the designs and through deliberation and voting with the rest of the team, the logo was decided.
Business: Continued grant research and identified multiple finding opportunities that apply to MicroMurals. Worked on completing and submitting grant applications.

Wet Lab: The team met with our product development team to answer questions about the design of the bioreactor and the 3D printer.
Product Development: The subteam began looking into designing our own Handheld Bioprinter and had a meeting with Wetlab. During our meeting, we fleshed out a printing walkthrough to guide the development of our printing system from the cell culture to the final product.
PnP: Pnp collaborated with iGEM Patras by sending a photo of a member standing as a T to represent the nucleotide. Continued talking about outreach and reaching out to stakeholders. Also started making educational infographics.
Wiki: The members worked on training and the assignment for Github this week. They learned how to work on a repository with other team members, and update the CSS and HTML code on the team page and push those changes to the GitHub repository.
Business: Continued sourcing and applying for grants applicable to MicroMurals.

Wet Lab: The team created the actual plasmid that would be used in the final project, reliant on a certain number of important accessory parts. We discussed summer work expectations.
Product Development: Members did further research on the hardware aspects, modeling, and testing of our project. We discussed what changes we needed to make to the 3D printer, how the bioreactor will operate, and what testing needs to be done to the handheld bioprinter.
PnP: Subteam members reached out to two contacts in the areas of biology and art, in addition to conducting interviews. Furthermore, PnP-related medal criteria was analyzed and important points were outlined. In smaller subgroups, the subteam collaborated on potential outreach ideas in the areas of media, Cornell Botanical Gardens, art outreach, and a collaboration event with other Cornell student organizations.
Wiki: The members finalized designs, and looked at the timeline for Wiki for the coming semester. They heard updates from the other team members and subteams to get a better understanding of the project, and the timeline for the coming semester.
Business: Reviewed past business plans to determine the best structure and most important elements. Used these findings to draft the outline of our entrepreneurial plan.

Wet Lab: The team finalized the schedule for summer.
Product Development: The subteam finalized all plans for the summer. This included making a GANTT Chart in which everyone could visualize our timeline for the summer session. The subteam also placed orders for any materials needed for the summer.
PnP: Subteam members continued analyzing the PnP-related medal criteria, specifying potential ideas to achieve the criteria. Potential outreach ideas were discussed in a subteam setting and revised to better effectively reach our target audiences. Additionally, potential stakeholders were contacted for interviews and interviews were conducted.
Wiki: The members planned out all design-related content and software for the upcoming fall semester.
Business: Created final iterations of the business plan outline, reflected on work to do for the next semester and planning the timeline and tools required to complete the business plan.

FINALS WEEK

BREAK

Wet Lab: The subteam decided to work on fixing the contamination issue within the lab through improving sterile technique. Transformations were also performed with newly shipped competent cells (DH5 alpha strain). Finally, wet lab also focused on documentation for the project.
Product Development: The subteam had a joint meeting with Wetlab to discuss the best way of optimizing the bioreactor for them. Additionally, the subteam made more hydrogels, began wiring the electrical components of the bioreactor, and cleaned up all sketches and CAD for the 3D printer and handheld bioprinter. We also began working on documentation for our project.
PnP: PnP did a medal criteria check in to ensure we are meeting gold medal criteria and continued with interviews and outreach and education. Also worked on infographics for the website.

Wet Lab: The subteam continued with improving sterile technique by replacing ethanol. Transformations were also re-analyzed and concentrations of all relevant parts from the 2021 and 2022 iGEM DNA kit were measured using a spectrophotometer (nano-drop).
Product Development: Members finished the Handheld Bioprinter CAD, took measurements of the 3D printer carriage, worked on testing the bioreactor components, and began fluid modeling on ANSYS. The subteam also continued working on the electrical wiring of the bioreactor and planning out the electrical component for the handheld bioprinter.
PnP: Reached out to policy stakeholders to begin the process of policy analysis for MicroMurals.

Wet Lab: After not seeing chromoprotein expression in the last few transformations, a new protocol was adopted and tested against the original protocol to see if the new protocol would be more effective. The new protocol showed promise during analysis.
Product Development: The subteam had a zoom meeting with CCA iGEM for our collaboration with them. Members continued working on ANSYS fluid modeling, the CAD for the handheld bioprinter, creating an extrusion method testing procedure, and creating the CAD for the bioprinter head.
PnP: Continued working on infographics for pnp content and continued to schedule and plan an outreach event with Seniors at Longview Community Center and reaching out for other events.
Brainstormed fundraising ideas for start of semester, assigned a iGEM Business Manual as required reading for subteam members, and to write a reflection on it due in August.

Wet Lab: This week, the subteam revisited the protocols being used for transformations and further tested new protocols using the New England Biolabs (NEB) protocol for transformation which is the protocol that came with the cells ordered in early July. Liquid cell cultures were created of a transformation that showed promise of color but after 36 hours, no significant color was seen.
Product Development: This week, the subteam focused on completing the electrical wiring of the bioreactor, completing ANSYS modeling, shrinking the dimensions of the handheld bioprinter, and looking into any code adjustments for the 3D printer. Additionally, we performed confined compression testing to test our hydrogels.
PnP: Started policy analysis and reviewing policy framework from previous iGEM teams and worked on starting an educational game for outreach.

Wet Lab: This week the subteam focused on writing documentation, working on literature for our improved part, and ordering parts for the fall session to continue work from the summer.
Product Development: This week the subteam completed hardware assembly of the bioreactor, the handheld bioprinter, and the 3D bioprinter head. Additionally, more hydrogels were made for further extrusion and confined compression testing. We also focused on writing our documentation this week.
PnP: PnP prepared and conducted the Sciencenter outreach event. Furthermore, documentation was solidified and further analysis was conducted on our progress on medal criteria.
Business: Created a large social media fundraiser to help development of our project, with a bingo board and grand challenges based on amounts raised. The subteam also edited and finalized grant applications.

Wet Lab: This is the last week of the summer session! Wet Lab focused on continuing documentation and answering feedback from leads for final touches.
Product Development: This week the subteam completed hardware assembly of the bioreactor, the handheld bioprinter, and the 3D bioprinter head. Additionally, more hydrogels were made for further extrusion and confined compression testing. We also focused on writing our documentation this week.
PnP: PnP continued to focus on documentation, editing ethics write-ups, and developing the ethics handbook.
Business: Created an automated budget sheet for the team to use for any inflows/outflows of money, submitted a few grants, and members submitted a reflection on the business manual.

BREAK

BREAK

Wet Lab: The team came back from summer session and got straight to work transforming bacterial colonies with pieces of the final construct. They also created liquid cell cultures that would be used to test fermentations in the coming weeks.
Product Development: First week back from summer session and Product Development worked on troubleshooting the 3D printhead design, upgraded the Handheld bioprinter casing, and worked on recruitment for next year’s team.
PnP: Pnp continued to work on documentation and ethics handbook. Also started reaching out and checking in with stakeholders from the last few months. Pnp also started making plans to set up and host a bioart exhibit here at Cornell.
Wiki: Wiki met with Product Development to discuss the implementation of the MicroMurals app, discussing frameworks and programming languages. The team reached out to various sources to inquire about how to best implement this mobile application.
Business: Re-analyze award winning business plans and understand aspects where they stood out/areas where they could improve and edit our business plan outline to reflect these changes and incorporate the strengths from prior award winning plans.

Wet Lab: WL continues to perform bacterial transformations. We also worked on getting set up to perform a Gibson Assembly to finish off our construct build.
Product Development: This week, PD made some more hydrogels, designed a new 3D printhead, and looked through feedback on developing the MicroMurals app. We also continued working on our bioreactor.
PnP: Pnp continued to work on documentation, writing up the ethics handbook, and checking in with stakeholders. Pnp also prepared for an upcoming outreach event with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ithaca. Pnp also started reaching out about the bioart exhibit.
Wiki: Wiki met with Product Development to discuss the implementation of the MicroMurals app, discussing frameworks and programming languages. The team reached out to various sources to inquire about how to best implement this mobile application.
Business: Re-analyze award winning business plans and understand aspects where they stood out/areas where they could improve and edit our business plan outline to reflect these changes and incorporate the strengths from prior award winning plans.

Wet Lab: WL continues to do work amplifying parts to be used in the Gibson assembly. We calibrated and tested the performance of certain machines in the lab.
Product Development: The subteam continued working on our bioreactor, testing the 3D printhead with hydrogels we produced, testing the handheld bioprinter, and continued updating documentation.
PnP: Pnp continued to check in with stakeholders and also reached out to science students to probe interest about a potential biolab here at Cornell. Also, prepped for the outreach event that is happening on Sept 18th. Finished up ethics handbook and continued completing documentation.
Wiki: The members started working on background designs for Cornell’s collaboration with McGill for the bacteria book. The members decided to use React Native to create our mobile application.
Business: Provided feedback and incorporated changes to worksheets, checked in with members about their respective business plan sections and started compiling information into a rough draft.

Wet Lab: The team amplified all of our linearized gene fragment parts and did a Gibson Assembly to build out our construct. Liquid cultures of our bacteria were created and solutions to induce production of our proteins of interest were made as well.
Product Development: This week, we worked on setting up the livestream for our APP, helping PnP with creating an online game, and we continued testing both bioprinters with hydrogel.
PnP: Pnp hosted an outreach event with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ithaca where kids came and visited different stations that taught them about synthetic biology, the scientific method, and the experimental process. Pnp also found a location for the bioart exhibit and started collaborating with art students to set it up. Pnp continued to work on documentation and finalizing write ups for the wiki.
Wiki: The members continued refining the background designs for Cornell’s collaboration and continued working on the implementation of the application, working on features like storing images and profile data. The members started formatting the wiki and brainstorming features for the pages.
Business: Combined all the sections and created a rough draft of the business plan. Talked to WL + PD to understand how our commercialization would work hand in hand with them, ideation session for best business models to use for our product, provided edits and feedback to members. Talked to an IP lawyer to understand regulations involving our product.

Wet Lab: Gibson was performed to synthesize our construct and bacteria were transformed using the newly made plasmid. Colony PCR was performed to verify successful transformation.
Product Development: This week the PD subteam worked on incorporating CD nanofibers into our hydrogels, finishing up documentation, and printing our hydrogels using our 3D bioprinter. Additionally, the subteam worked on completing the PnP game and the livestream set up for the app.
PnP: Pnp continued to work on documentation and finalizing write ups for the wiki. Also worked on editing and improving infographics for the wiki. Pnp continued to reach out and collaborate with artists to set up the bioart exhibit which will be set up Oct. 2^nd.
Wiki: The members continued implementing the pages into the wiki. Also, the subteam provided graphics and sprite designs for the MicroMurals video game. They continued finalizing the front-end aspect of the mobile application.
Business: Final draft with substantial revisions created, created infographics of various data points.

Wet Lab: The team worked this week to help PD set up the bioreactor, while also creating batch fermentation flasks to compare growth in our proprietary fermentation reactor.
Product Development: The subteam worked on sterilizing the bioreactor, testing the handheld biprinter device, and printing more images with our 3D bioprinter. We also finalized all documentation before wiki freeze.
PnP: Worked on finalizing documentation and infographics, before wiki freeze. Set up our bio art exhibit which will be running for the week.
Wiki: The subteam members worked to finalize the wiki, adding in all of the information, graphics, images into the web page. They added additional features, such as a scroll to top button and an audio button for accessibility.
Business: Sent business plan to industry stakeholder for feedback, incorporated feedback + worked to quality check and finalize the business plan.