Team:Aachen/Team

Meet The Team

Team Leaders      Team Members      Supervisors      Instructors and Advisors

Different backgrounds.

Different countries.

Different fields of study.

One GOAL.

On this page we want to introduce us - the iGEM Team Aachen 2020. You can get further information about a person when hovering over the respective picture. For our team leaders and our team members this information includes the name, the course of studies, the current semester as well as the subgroups this member was involved in. The subgroups are represented by the following symbols:

Fundraising

Hardware

Human Practices

IT & Wiki

Lab

Modeling

Organisation

Social Media

We also want to introduce our Supervisors (PIs), Instructors and Advisors on this page. When you hover over their pictures you get their names, their institutes as well as the respective role they had in our team.

Our Team Leaders

Julia

Gehrmann

Computer Science M.Sc.
2^nd Semester

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Julia

Gehrmann

In the first place, I considered iGEM a big opportunity for networking and gaining insight into the scientific world. By taking care of some organisational aspects, I wanted to enable the other team members to invest more time in laboratory work. Furthermore, I supported the theoretical modelling as well as the IT part of the project with the knowledge I gained in the Computer Science Bachelor’s program and my work for the Institute for Computational Genomics. I like to face my fears. That is why I go climbing although I am afraid of heights.

Marcel

Wittmund

Biotechnology B.Sc.
4^th Semester

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Marcel

Wittmund

My expectations from iGEM were: making a great project and getting a lot of professional experience together with like-minded teams. I supported our team with my talent for organizing and scheduling as well as with my experience in molecular dynamics. In biology there is always another level to the equation, since you can say: all of this emerged by chance. I think that's beautiful and fascinating. I am very interested in bioinformatics and am currently working on my first own project in AI-Clustering and sequence analysis.

Our Team Members

Daniel

Costard

Biology B.Sc.
4^th Semester

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Daniel

Costard

The iGEM competition was my first experience in the lab on my own. I was determined to support the team efforts the best I can, like helping out in the lab anytime or by thinking of new ways to solve our problems. Like John von Neumann said: "Organization has a purpose, order does not". Order is something you can find regularly in nature like in crystals which have their molecules very well structured. But organization is more than order and can only be found in living systems and serves a particular purpose.

Florian

Kroh

Mechanical Engineering and Business B.Sc.
8^th Semester

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Florian

Kroh

Not having much exposure to biology, I wanted to learn the fundamentals of engineering biology. IGEM was a great opportunity to meet synbio enthusiasts and learn about their vision for the future. I helped our team by providing my knowledge of mechanical engineering to build a scalable bioreactor. Having good knowledge of entrepreneurship research I provided a framework, how motivated people work together towards one goal. I'm also a treasurer of the NGO which promotes entrepreneurship.

Kim

Büttgen

Biology B.Sc.
6^th Semester

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Kim

Büttgen

IGEM broadened my horizons and we had a lively exchange of ideas. I supported our goal with my previously acquired knowledge, my experience in the laboratory and my commitment. What I like about biology is: anything is possible, nature always surprises you and offers new opportunities and perspectives on every corner. I'm a nurse and I am currently working with a fantastic and committed new team on a corona infection station. I have a lot of fun teaching others something new, which is why I work as a tutor and supervisor.

Lina

Schmidt

Biotechnology B.Sc.
4^th Semester

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Lina

Schmidt

My favourite part of iGEM was to share information with other teams from all around the world and familiarize people with synthetic biology. Although I've been busy with fundraising, I also supported our team by assisting wherever help was needed for our project's progress. I love about biotechnology that you can use organisms, enzymes or cells to do all the work for you. If you wanna have a wine, put some grapes together with the right organisms and there you go. I tended to end our team meetings cause I’d been hungry.

Maximilian

Dreimann

Biotechnology B.Sc.
4^th Semester

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Maximilian

Dreimann

IGEM was all in all a chance for scientific creativity. Finding creative solutions for problems on our own and being completely responsible for a project in every aspect. Putting in the work in the lab and in the integrated human practices as well as keeping everyone engaged and motivated were my contributions to our project. How nature found elegant solutions for problems, which are beyond our understanding inspires me the most. Together with 2 friends I founded a start up company to fight ocean acidification and CO2 pollution.

Pia

Ergezinger

Biotechnology B.Sc.
4^th Semester

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Pia

Ergezinger

I expected a very interesting and great time with our team and project. For me it was a chance to get to know wonderful new people and how it is like to work on a science project on your own. I supported our goal in the lab and helped to get the money we needed for the project. Nature is a big map of pathways and nature is the only instance that has an overview over it/everything. Everything is connected to each other and that is what inspires me. When I spend a vacation on a beach I also go surfing.

Raphael

Egging

Physics B.Sc.
6^th Semester

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Raphael

Egging

In iGEM I broadened my knowledge in biology and worked with an interdisciplinary team on a challenging task. I advised on the feasibility from a physical point of view and helped building the wiki and hardware components. In physics one can derive all stuff from Hamilton's Principle and some basic symmetry assumptions. Classical Mechanics, Maxwell's equations and Einstein's field equations can all be derived from that one basic principle. This is what inspires me about the nature. I work as a DJ and play in theatre.

Salim

Atakhanov

Biology M.Sc.
2^nd Semester

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Salim

Atakhanov

Scientific research is my outlet, for it propels me into work at professional levels. I contributed to our project with my experience in Human Practices, PR management as well as my research experience in the laboratory. I think that, from biological point of view, cancer development is fascinating. One tiny mutation can cause uncontrolled division of cells that form tumor and avoid immune recognition. I currently research myoloproliferative neoplasms in the University Hospital of RWTH Aachen.

Selma

Busch

Biology B.Sc.
4^th Semester

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Selma

Busch

IGEM was one of my first experiences in the lab. I think it was a great way to learn how science really works. I have tried my best to help in finding solutions for any given challenge. I was engaged in fundraising and our human practices. I also took part in the lab work. I am fascinated by the fact how every little feature of life ultimatly serves the propagation of genetic material. No matter how big or complex an organism might be, it's at the same time always a minimalistic and fragile construct. I love any kinds of riddles, particularly crosswords.

Shlok

Szatkowski

Biology B.Sc.
4^th Semester

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Shlok

Szatkowski

Developing our project with our great team, sharing it with like-minded students, and learning about their achievements was what I pursued in iGEM. Besides working in the lab, I supported our team by communicating the significance of synthetic biology to the general public. Emergence is what always fascinated me most in biology. While it is a common thread in all science, I never saw it in as many facets as biology had to offer me. I am also developing a project for the educational department of the museums of Aachen about environment and sustainability in Europe.

Sven

Leisen

Biotechnology B.Sc.
4^th Semester

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Sven

Leisen

The idea of finally getting my hands on a self chosen project sounded really appealing to me. Cooperating as a team from different scientific fields was a very valuable experience. I supported my team with my knowledge of the biotechnical aspects of our project. I like working with people and tried my best to bring the field of synthetic biology closer to the public. My fascination lies in the principles of the molecular machinery which defines the fine line between more or less simple interacting molecules and a living organism. As a kid I really liked dinosaurs. I still do.

Vladyslav

Los

Physics B.Sc.
2^nd Semester

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Vladyslav

Los

In iGEM I got out of my comfort zone, gained new experiences, met interesting people and tried myself in a new role. My ability to come up with bold hardware and design ideas, and my natural skepticism found great use in our divers team. I spend most of my time in the team designing and developing our wiki. Feynman Diagrams are an example of how one can represent differential equations as a few lines intersecting each other with certain rules. For me, it shows how important abstraction is to make complex problems easier. I love exotic sports like fencing or paragliding.

Our Supervisors

Prof. Dr.
Lars Blank

Institute of Applied Microbiology

Primary PI

Prof. Dr. Lars Blank

Institute of Applied Microbiology

We thank Prof. Dr. Lars Blank, head of the Institute of Applied Microbiology (iAMB), for investing his time in our project. Specifically, at the beginning of the competition professor Blank was a great help to us in refining our idea. With his communicative demeanour, debating our newest findings was always interesting and beneficial to us. Especially his knowledge of the potential needs in microbiology and synthetic biology supported us in evaluating the usefulness of our idea to the scientific communities.

Prof. Dr.
Ulrich Schwaneberg

Institute of Biotechnology

Secondary PI

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schwaneberg

Institute of Biotechnology

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schwaneberg is not only the head of the Institute for Biotechnology, but also a long-standing supporter of the iGEM Team Aachen. In this challenging year he provided us with a workspace in his lab, as well as any general lab material we needed. Furthermore, he gave us valuable advice concerning the feasibility of our project. His amazing team helped us whenever we had questions or difficulties while working in the laboratory. For their effort we thank Prof. Ulrich Schwaneberg and the Institute for Biotechnology.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wiechert

Institute of Bio- and Geosciences

Secondary PI

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wiechert

Institute of Bio- and Geosciences

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wiechert, as the head of Systems Biotechnology (IBG-1) at the FZ Jülich, supported us essentially in our project design and finalization phases. For the first time in the iGEM Aachen history, thanks to Prof. Wiechert, we conducted a fundamental part of our research at the FZ Jülich labs. In addition to helping us in acquiring funding, he shared his useful expertise concerning the final presentation of our project. The insights he provided for our mathematical modelling process as well as his detailed feedback on our project presentation helped us to achieve the best possible results for both. We would like to thank Prof. Wolfgang Wiechert for his invested time and the constructive meetings we had.

Our Instructors and Advisors

Dr. Yu Ji

Institute of Biotechnology

Instructor

Dr. Yu Ji

Institute of Biotechnology

Dr. Yu Ji of the Institute of Biotechnology was our main Instructor this year. Not only did she introduce us to the laboratory, but she was there for us every day. We contacted her whenever we had questions concerning our laboratory work and she always offered us guidance. She would even come on Sundays only to enable us to work together in the laboratory. On more than one occasion Yu ’s vast knowledge of lab procedures prevented us from making time-consuming mistakes.

We want to thank Yu for being a fundamental part of our Team and for doing her best to turn every single day in the laboratory into a valuable experience for us.

Volkan Besirlioglu

Institute of Biotechnology

Advisor

Volkan Besirlioglu

Institute of Biotechnology

We could call ourselves truly lucky we had Volkan by our side, who is an expert for cell-free systems and works particularly with polymersomes in his Ph.D. thesis. He was always there to provide advice based on his specific knowledge about vesicles and helped us a lot to perform the experiments with our chassis. He also gave us plenty of insight into his own research work. Besides that, his most useful skill for us was the way he made us reflect our logical mistakes, which helped us to gain a deeper understanding of what we were trying to do in our experiments.

We want to thank Volkan for his time, his deliberation and the lessons he taught us about science.