Communication
Communication
Why is Communication Important to our project?
As Synthetic biology is not significantly developed in South Korea, communication is crucial for our team to receive feedback from various audiences and promote our products to the public. By communicating and interacting with a diverse range of audiences, from the general public to university professors, our team both accomplished spreading the importance of synthetic biology and upgrading our oil-absorbent product.
Method of Communication
In order to communicate our project and synthetic biology to the rest of the world, our team selected two main methods. First, our team decided to host the biology competition called “ISBC” (International School Biology Competition). During the competition, our team held an Educational Session on synthetic biology, with university professors' support, and hosted debate sessions for high school students to communicate their perspectives on synthetic biology.
The second method was visiting the Korean Ocean Expo to communicate with the audience about our Pine Sorb products. We decorated our booth with various materials that can enhance the communication and understanding of the audience. Also, our team actively promoted our absorbent products to a wide range of audiences to receive feedback and communicate the effect of synthetic biology.
Besides other methods of communication, our team selected the Korean Ocean Expo and International High School Biology Competition to achieve our two primary goals successfully. To begin with, our team looks forward to spreading knowledge on synthetic biology by communicating with different audiences. Korean Ocean Expo is a national event in which diverse ranges of audiences participate. From organizations related to marine environments to the general public, myriads of people would communicate with our team and gain insights about synthetic biology and our oil-absorbent product. More people in the Expo will naturally gain an understanding of synthetic biology as we communicate our products to them. Since our Pine Sorb products can solve local problems regarding marine environments, engaging in an Ocean Expo will provide a lot of feedback and communication for our team.
Also, our team wished to communicate our knowledge to students, who we believe to be desperate for resources to learn about synthetic biology. In a typical Korean high school, students do not receive abundant opportunities to learn synthetic biology. Instead, they learn about the general study of biology. Therefore, hosting a biology competition will provide a special experience for students interested in synthetic biology and, thus, naturally be exposed to educational sessions. Instead of communicating our knowledge only inside the school, we tried to communicate with various ranges of people who were interested in our projects and synthetic biology.
Event 1 - Participating in Korea Ocean Expo
The first event we hosted/took part in was when we hosted a booth at the International Maritime and Safety Exhibition (a.k.a; the Korean Ocean Expo) from June 22nd to 24th. The Exhibition was a national event held in Incheon, South Korea, by the National Coast Guard. The Korea Ocean Expo is the only marine-specific expo held in the metropolitan area. The Incheon Metropolitan area is home to significant marine organizations, making it a desirable location for domestic purchasers. The main project and objective of setting up our booth were to be able to communicate our project, “Pine Sorb,” to the audience at the expo, who were mainly people related to maritime state organizations, NGOs, and corporations whose operations were strongly related to the ocean. For example, officials from the Korean Coast Guard, the event host, managers from an industrial sewage company, and owners of fishing boats came up to our booth and asked questions regarding Pine Sorb. We had expected such audiences since Pine Sorb could be used for various entities in order to deal with oil spillage due to accidents or byproducts of industrial work. However, not only organizations or groups related to the marine environment but lots of the general public also visited our booth throughout the EXPO. By promoting our products to normal people without prior knowledge about synthetic biology, we were able to observe that many people were surprised by the ability of our oil absorbents. When we explain our product to the public, we incorporate the understanding of synthetic biology to raise the attention and interest of the people. We emphasized the fact that through the usage of synthetic biology, our team created this eco-friendly oil absorbent. Therefore, we communicated with marine organizations and the general public about synthetic biology and our project.
In order to effectively communicate with the audience, our team prepared two different materials that could enhance the understanding of the targeted audience. First, we created a brochure providing a brief overview of our product. The brochure contained information regarding the devastating oil spill that happened on the coast of Taean in 2007 and the necessity of our product in local areas. Also, we explained some functions of our product and took photos of the oil-absorbent performance test. We also introduced some crucial characteristics of our product: it is oleophilic, hydrophobic, and eco-friendly. By providing a brochure to the audience, they can understand our project more effectively and efficiently. Even people without knowledge of synthetic biology can understand our product through concise descriptions and explanations of its needs.
Second, we communicated by demonstrating the effects of our products at our booth. Our team brought different sizes of water tanks to the booth and adopted various methods to grab the attention of the audience. First, we intentionally spilled oils in the tank and spread our Pine Sorb product on top of the oil. After 5-10 minutes, we used a flat surface of the wood to push the oil to one side of the tank. Through this demonstration, we were able to show that our product is hydrophobic and oleophilic. After we exhibited our demonstration to the audience, they were surprised by the fact that our product perfectly absorbed all the oil. However, since this oil demonstration is a time-consuming display, we observed that many people are not waiting a whole 10 minutes to watch our demonstration. Also, our team directly received feedback from one audience that this demonstration was exceptionally long, and he could not concentrate. Therefore, on the next day at EXPO, our team decided to devise a more concise and time-efficient demonstration that could grab the audience's attention and show that our product is hydrophilic and oleophilic.
After we received feedback from the audience, we decided to design a more concise and efficient form of demonstration. We added a few drops of oil to the beaker and poured our Pine Sorb product at the top of the oil. Then, we intentionally stirred the oil with the glass stick to reveal that our product was highly oleophilic. Unlike tank demonstrations that take 5-10 minutes of preparation time, our stirrer demo is fast, immediate, and time-efficient. When we displayed our stirrer demonstration to the audience, we observed that more people were interested in our projects. Our modification was successful, and we were able to promote our product to a wider range of audience.
Through the Expo experience, our team received various feedback from different audiences and utilized them to modify our product further. But most importantly, other than the feedback, after the Expo, various ranges of the audience showed interest in our Pine Sorb product. Our team received contact points from the Korean Coast Guard, Industrial Sewage companies, and fisheries. We contacted them back after the Expo and conversed about future ventures. Specifically, an ocean industry company named “Seabank” was very intrigued by our product as they knew that the product would be revolutionary for small fisheries within Korea. The CEO of Seabank invited us to Tongyeong, a port city on the southern coast of Korea, to investigate more about some local problems and test our product. On August 30th, 2022, we went to Tongyeong and met the CEO. As we observed and heard explanations from the CEO, we realized that the majority of the oil spills that happen in Korea aren’t huge catastrophic-sized oil spills. The problems are the tiny oil leaks that happen in every single small boat in South Korea. By visiting Tongyeong, we were able to learn that our product can be used to solve minor oil spill problems in South Korea, and it is incredibly beneficial to local fishery workers and sailors. Also, our team received various feedback from the CEO and utilized them to upgrade our product. One of the feedback that he mentioned was that our Pine Sorb product should be in a pad form to increase its convenience. Also, since the form and shape of each boat are different, he commented that different sizes and shapes of Pine Sorb would be more accessible and convenient for its users. After receiving feedback from the CEO of Seabank, our team collected the blueprint of the most widely used boats in South Korea. Also, our team designed a few different shapes of Pine Sorb, which vary from thin tube shape, large pad shape, small thick pad shape, and more. As such, by communicating with different audiences at Expo, our team could explore more possibilities and potentials of our product - Pine Sorb.
Event 2 - Hosting the International School Biology Competition
The Korean Ocean Expo was a success; however, through further team discussions, we mentioned how we wish we could reach out and communicate with the larger public - especially students - considering how synthetic biology is less well-known at the student level although students may be interested in the topic. We considered various methods of communication and finally settled on hosting a biology contest so that we could gain attention and participation from students.
We initially planned to host a biology competition only targeting high school students who are interested in biology. However, since the synthetic biology field is not completely developed in the classrooms of high schools, our team decided to enlarge the audience and also target university students as participants in the biology competition. Inviting university students would be beneficial because they might have a better understanding and knowledge of synthetic biology, which will increase the quality of the competition. Therefore, our team immediately reached out to Sogang_Korea, Uincheon, KUAS_Korea teams of IGEM and collaborated with them to spread synthetic biology to a wider audience and allow more students to participate in our competition and gain insights from it.
Our team primarily completed two main initiatives to make our biology competition (ISBC) more successful and engaging. To begin with, we reached out to myriads of companies in South Korea and introduced our project to receive financial support and funding. Our team hosted numerous meetings with companies that are interested in our projects and consistently persuaded them about the significance of synthetic biology in South Korea. With our team’s enthusiasm and efforts, something unique happened a few weeks later. Two major companies in South Korea, “AMOREPACIFIC” and “Neovalue,” contacted us and showed their desire to collaborate. Under support from “AMOREPACIFIC” and “Neovalue,” we were able to collect 6,000,000 KRW (4,200 USD) for the competition’s awards. We set the prize of the competition as 6,000,000 KRW (4,200 USD) to trigger more active engagement among students and increase their interest in the competition. If the reward is higher, students without insight into synthetic biology might obtain new interests and enthusiasm for synthetic biology through the competition.
Secondly, we invited university professors to provide more detailed and high-quality education to the participants of the competition. University professors provided a total of one hour of education sessions to all participants of ISBC before the teams started debating on the four different topics. By enlightening students with synthetic biology knowledge, students could communicate their in-depth knowledge and opinion with other participants.
As we increased the encouragement of more students by collecting higher prizes and inviting quality education through university professors, many students signed up for the biology competition. A total of 18 international teams signed up for the biology competition, and we invited six of them to participate in our competition. To increase the quality of the competition and communication among participants, we created four different debate topics. The debate topics were “Is engineering for human cells desirable for synthetic biology?”, “Through the development of synthetic biology, is food engineering applicable to food manufacturing?”, “Can GMO, LMO be a response to climate change?”. “Can GMO cosmetics cause problems with Human Skin Health?”.
Through the experience with ISBC, our team received successful outcomes. One participant from ISBC, Tobby Bae (11th grader - at Seoul Foreign School), mentioned that “the topic was not something well-taught in high school curriculums, especially in Korean high schools.” Another participant in this biology competition, Sungjun Hwang (11th grader - at Seoul Foreign School), states that “the topic was very specific and showed various educational videos/images regarding synthetic biology. Therefore, it was helpful while debating with other participants''. Their comments illustrated how our foresight about the Korean education system regarding synthetic biology and the needs of Korean students was exact. In this biology competition, every participant was truly passionate about synthetic biology and enthusiastic about sharing their opinion. Although they could not receive sufficient education from the school in South Korea, most of the participants had a deep understanding of synthetic biology. Therefore, our team realized that more synthetic biology education in schools and active support from other organizations could significantly develop the synthetic biology field in South Korea. Through communication with various students, our team could reflect on the current circumstance of synthetic biology in South Korea and the potential for improvements.
Conclusion
Through our experience at the Korean Ocean Expo and ISBC, our team was able to recognize that communication is one of the most crucial and significant processes for our project. By communicating with various ranges of audiences in different locations, we received a lot of feedback and received critical opportunities to improve our project. Also, through active communication, our group could obtain wide perspectives on synthetic biology and our Pine Sorb product. Therefore, we can conclude that the Korean Ocean Expo and hosting a biology competition is a significant success.
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