IGEM TU EINDHOVEN - Key Persons
In my studies, I'm mostly focusing on image analysis. However, of course, I think the field of synthetic biology is very interesting as well. In this team, I will be responsible for the wiki and the website. With these tasks, I can use and hopefully further develop my programming skills. In addition, I will work on human practices and together with some lab work and the more general teamwork I want to broaden my skill set.
My name is Bram van der Velden and I am a third year Biomedical Engineering undergraduate at Eindhoven University of Technology. My main role is coding the WIKI. Besides that I work in the lab and on the content of the WIKI.
I joined this year's iGEM team because I want to broaden my perspective of synthetic biology. I also want to experience how it is like managing a project from scratch.
Job Titles:
- Safety Manager
- Safety Officer
The guy that is keeping us all alive, it is our own Safety Officer Bruno. Bruno is responsible for all of the paperwork that allows the team to work with the biological materials required. Also he has done the Interlab studies for us. Right now, he is assisting Pim with Modeling and is part of our Human Practices squad.
This year I have the honorable job of lab captain, which means that I am responsible for the experiments and the overall progress in the lab. Besides this I also work at the cloning guide. Currently I am studying for my master's degree at the faculty of Biomedical Engineering. During my bachelor I found out that the field of synthetic biology is very exciting. I joined the iGEM TU Eindhoven team this year because I think this is a great challenge and for me it is also a possibility to see what Biomedical Engineering and synthetic biology in special have to offer. Especially the combination of synthetic biology and model based engineering is nice to explore.
Being an innovator by heart and designer by Bachelor, I like to think in concepts and visualizations. That's why I love prototyping ideas with the laser cutter and 3D printer. Having little experience in medical engineering requires me to learn, simplify and visualize specialized knowledge through a new perspective. This new context makes iGEM the perfect opportunity for me to improve my storytelling, prototyping, and graphic design. Besides all, I love the challenge of immersing myself in a new industry through the dynamics of working in a multi-disciplinary team!
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Lab Captain
- Member of the Tue IGEM 2019
I am specializing in the fascinating field of protein engineering. iGEM gives me the opportunity to experience doing my own research and to evolve many other skills. As lab captain, I will be mostly focusing on the planning and execution of the lab work for our project. I am also helping with finding sponsors, so we have the funding to reach our goal. I am enthusiastic and curious about our project and cannot wait to see how far we will come!
Yan Ni is a senior researcher in the Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Department of Biomedical Engineering. She received her PhD degree in Biochemical Engineering in 2013. Her PhD research was focused on identification of new enzymes and their application for organic synthesis. From 2014-2017, she worked as a postdoc researcher in Delft University of Technology and University of Groningen. In 2017, she joined Prof. Maarten Merkx's group in TU/e as a postdoc working on bioluminescent protein sensors for diagnostics. Since 2019, she started her current position in the group of Prof. Luc Brunsveld in the field of Chemical Biology.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Synthetic Biology
- Expert
- Tom ) De Greef / Dr.Ir. Tom De Greef Is Associate Professor of Synthetic Biology in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He Is an Expert at Modelling Dynamic Systems and Synthetic Circuits
Dr.ir. Tom de Greef is an expert at modelling dynamic systems and synthetic circuits. Tom assisted us with the modelling part, gave us feedback and helped us find the information we need for our project. This often results in enough reading material to fill your day.
Job Titles:
- Public Relations Captain and Secretary
Job Titles:
- Lab Captain & Human Practices
I am part of the group of Protein Engineering, where we are busy with many different protein-related subjects including point of care testing and BRET. The subject of our project is therefore completely in my field of interest. In the iGEM team, I will be mostly working in the lab where I hope to improve my lab skills. I will also be keeping myself busy with human practices. I like to work in a team, and with my work in the iGEM team, I want to improve my soft skills and learn more about synthetic biology.
Job Titles:
- Construction Creation, BioBricking
I am the captain of the modeling team. I am responsible for all the modeling that needs to be done in the project. I am currently a third year student enrolled in the bachelor Biomedical Engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology. I joined the iGEM team, because I wanted to work on a challenging project which has not been done before allowing us to create our own project and the experiments we are going to do. Also I am using iGEM to determine if the modeling part combined with the field of synthetic engineering is something I would like to specialize in. After iGEM I hope to have learned how to do my own research and experiments, and hopefully I will be able to decide if this field is something I would like to continue with.
Guido is one of our two Lab Captains in charge of managing the lab work. He is almost never in the office but can always be found in the synthesis lab working on the hydrogel or the biolab working on the biobricks and protein expression.
Job Titles:
- Lab Captain & Human Practices
I'm fascinated by nature, down to its smallest scales, as chemical biology is all about. I find it simply wonderful how, in a cell, all the molecular players and little biochemical machines act together in an overwhelmingly complex, yet amazingly clever concert to make life be. As an engineering student, I fancy tweaking or even designing such biological systems, thereby aiming to offer solutions the world desperately needs. I'm this vegan idealist who wants to help make the world a better place. I like to question preconceptions and push boundaries (in fact, I do so every single day, crossing the Belgian-Dutch border on my way to Eindhoven ). In this project, we will make use of bacteriophages, again ingenious products of natural evolution, but not that well-known yet(!) in the western world. I am excited to travel around interviewing experts on all sorts of technical, but also societal aspects of our project, next to experimenting in the lab, delving into literature and finding ways to overcome hurdles on our way to Boston.
Job Titles:
- External Affairs and Human
Hi everyone, my name is Jakob Scheele. I am 21 years old and currently I am in the first year of my Master's Program Biomedical Engineering at the TU/e with a focus on chemical biology. Coming year I will be External Affairs & Human Practices captain of iGEM 2022, building relationships with external stakeholders such as hospitals, companies and research institutes. During my studies at the TU/e, I am developing my ability to apply biological, chemical and engineering principles to contribute to novel molecular concepts concerning therapeutics, diagnostics and well-being. Combined with my entrepreneurial interests, I strive towards translating these concepts into real-live applications to combat challenges regarding medicine and innovation of healthcare. Therefore, I am excited to discuss our iGEM project with different types of stakeholders and make more people enthusiastic about synthetic biology, iGEM and our project. Additionally, I would like to further develop my biochemical research and practical skills by assisting in the lab.
I am proud to be called the team manager of this year's enthusiastic team and I am sure that we will yield great results. I will be keeping track of and contribute to every little part of the project and make sure that all the separate parts are integrated into one coherent project. Further, I will be responsible for keeping us all facing the same direction and will make sure that everyone keeps enjoying working on the project. Our road to Boston will be paved with deadlines and hard work but it promises to be a journey filled with loads of fun.
Something I love doing is sports such as running a marathon or participating in a triathlon, where perseverance is a necessity. I believe that the sky is the limit and no challenge is too much. That is the reason why I want to be part of the iGEM team. It's a multidisciplinary team where we can come up with challenges ourselves, something which naturally suits me. Moreover, I think my perseverance can really help in the lab when things don't go as planned. Something else I love to do is traveling, because you can meet different people and cultures all over the world. Therefore, human practices and acquisition are things I like to do and want to contribute to.
Job Titles:
- Student Biomedical Engineering - Lab Team
Considering multiple participations in projects about prokaryotic cell culture and design, Jurgen's interest evolved towards a project with eukaryotic cells. Joining the iGEM competition, using yeast, was therefore a multidisciplinary step to learn more about eukaryotic system biology. During the iGEM project, Jurgen will, not surprisingly, be part of the lab team.
Hello everyone, my name is Kim. During my studies, I have always been driven by designing meaningful designs that positively impact society. For me, this means designing for healthcare and improving quality of life. I am driven by curiosity in both my everyday life and my way of working. It leads me to endless discovery, learning and creativity. I am eager to learn new things. I am regularly seeking ways to improve and develop myself in and explore my field of interest: the health care industry. I saw a lot of opportunities in joining iGEM to explore this field of interest. As the lead designer, I get to improve my hard skills, such as design thinking and UX research, and my soft skills, such as collaboration and problem-solving. I am very excited to start this new challenge and work together with this motivating team!
My name is Laura Rijns and I am the lab captain of the team. This means that I am responsible for all the sequences we have designed and for the exciting experiments that we conduct. Currently, I am a third year undergraduate in Medical Sciences and Technology at the Technical University of Eindhoven.
I joined the iGEM team because I was ready to face a challenging project and synthetic biology is a field that has my greatest interest. Furthermore, this is a great opportunity to learn some skills in the lab and to improve my role as a team member. I am also curious to discover the other areas that are involved in this project, like human practices, sponsoring and modelling. The final conference in Boston will make iGEM an unforgettable experience!
Laura is our lovely vegan Human Practices Manager. When she is not in the lab for the Cloning team, she can be found either at her desk on her laptop typing, or she is traveling to somewhere in the Netherlands to talk to a stakeholder or expert on the field that we are working on. She is the smallest person on the team but that does not matter, we love her anyway and is our favorite lawnmower.
Job Titles:
- Modeling Chief
- Safety Expert, InterLab & Penpal
This is my second time as a member of an iGEM team. I also participated in 2015 and it was such a nice and informative experience, that I could not resist joining an iGEM team again. It is very nice to have experience and know some pitfalls, which will hopefully help with preventing them. Furthermore, receiving the bachelor degree in Biomedical Engineering helped with getting more experienced with modelling. This is also the reason why this time, my role as an iGEM team member is being the Modeling captain. Fortunately, I can also still spend some time working in the lab and designing presentations. Next to iGEM, I thought first years students Calculus and how to work in the lab during a Biochemistry course. After iGEM, I will continue with finishing my master in Biomedical Engineering by starting with my graduation project, which is a combination of Chemical Biology and Molecular Biosensing for Medical Diagnostics.
This year I am going to start with the third year of the bachelor Biomedical Engineering. I am the safety expert of this team and it is my responsibility that everyone has access to the lab and works safely. Together with Esther I filled in the safety forms. Furthermore I conducted the InterLab Study and communicated with our penpal Concordia. I have chosen to participate in the iGEM competition, because it is nice to work in a motivated team and it is a great opportunity to gain and better develop skills which will be useful in the future.
I am following the master Biomedical Engineering at the TU/e with a focus on protein engineering. I would like to incorporate the knowledge and skills I learned at the bachelors and masters so far in an innovative project. With iGEM we get the opportunity to choose what we want to do and try to make a new step forward. I am the treasurer of this year's team which means that besides working on the lab I am responsible for sponsoring. This combined will give me a lot of experience and skills which will probably also prove useful for my thesis. Besides working in the lab and on finances I can also be found in and around the water. I really like to go windsurfing, canoeing and sailing. Additionally I was board of the Umbrella association for all student sports association in Eindhoven.
Job Titles:
- External Affairs & Human Practices
Job Titles:
- Student Biomedical Engineering - Lab Team, Team Leader
To keep all her interests together, Maaike has chosen for the bachelor ‘Biomedical Engineering'. The unique combination of the medical, chemical, mathematical and technical subjects of this study created an almost complete picture for her. The management part is the only thing missing in this study. By taking part in a consulting board and committees this interest got also filled in. For iGEM Eindhoven she is member of the lab team and she also manages the communication between the different sub teams.
Currently I am a third year Medical Sciences and Technology student at the Technical University of Eindhoven. I joined the iGEM team to gain more of insight in what I find most interesting within the field of Biomedical Engineering.
Mariska is our Biobrick Captain. This means that she is responsible for all of the biobricks that we are handing in. Obviously, she is part of the Biobrick subgroup of our lab squad. She is also very fond of going to the gym and drinking tea.
My name is Marle Vleugels and I am a second year's master student Chemical Engineering, following the MSMC track. My main responsibility within this iGEM team is Human Practices and Safety, but I also work at the lab and I've been busy with sponsoring. For me, iGEM is a great opportunity to broaden my scientific knowledge and skills in the area of synthetic biology. Next to that, working in an interdisciplinairy team on such a challenging and broad project appealed to me. If I am not running around at the lab, you might find me running outside or on a treadmill, preferably with some sun shining. But of course, I also like to do things a bit less active in my spare time like going to the ‘borrel' (having drinks with my friends) while enjoying some craft beer, or searching Netflix for some shows I haven't seen yet (which is pretty rare).
Maxime, the other one of the two Lab Captains, is also in charge of managing all lab work. When not working on the planning of all experiment, she can be found in both the synthesis lab or in the biolab. Except for managing the lab work, she also plays an important role for the hydrogel synthesis, biobrick design, and protein expression experiments.
Also known as Mr Secretary, Mick keeps track of all of our mails and updates our agendas with the average four to six meetings we have per week of our various subgroups. When he is not writing lovely letters, Mick can be found in the lab as a part of the Adhesion team of the lab squad. However, not only the lab squad is happy with Mick, also our Human Practices team is happy to have Mick on the team. And how do we achieve all of our lovely collaborations with other teams? Via Mick, the Collaboration Captain.
Job Titles:
- Student Biomedical Engineering - Lab Team, Funding
During her bachelor, Moniek develops her interest in extracurricular activities. Joining the iGEM team was an unique opportunity to do some exclusive research with a multidisciplinary team. She wants to develop some more lab experience and is also responsible for PR and sponsoring.
My name is Nathalie van de Laar and I am a master student biomedical engineering. My main topic is chemical biology. I am mostly interested in protein-protein interactions. The most interesting part of iGEM for me is the possibility to learn something completely new and develop new skills. One of my responsibilities is our website. This is something I never did before and I like learning to work on this. I am also responsible for everything concerning public relations. Next to that I am part of the team that is responsible for the Human Practices. In the absence of Wytse, I am chairman. When I am not working at the lab or with the wiki, I like to play piano. Next to that running and swimming are my main ways to relax.
I'm a second-year bachelor student in Biomedical Technology and my main interests lay in the technical aspects of our program. I joined the iGEM team as I wanted to gain more soft skills and experience in the field of synthetic biology through an opportunity like this. In our team, I will be responsible for the sponsoring work. Additionally, I will contribute to the lab work and join the human practices team. I am here to do the research needed to get our project where we want it to be!
I am a student Medical Engineering and Technology at Eindhoven University of Technology and I just started the last year of my Bachelor's degree. My team role is team captain and being part of the lab team.
Job Titles:
- Student Biomedical Engineering - Modelling Team
‘Interested in modeling, longing for perfection and curious about the processes in the human body.' Hopefully these characteristics will help Petra to design the calcium model in yeast for this iGEM team. Due to her interest for computer science, she will start the master program Biomedical Engineering, BioModeling and BioInformatics in September.
Pim is our Modelling Captain and is therefore usually found behind his laptop. He is also helping Weizhou design the wiki and is in charge of the design of logos and banners. If Pim is not behind his laptop, he will either be at the coffee both next to Tim, or studying the science of nuclear fusion. In the lab he is assisting Maxime and Guido in the hydrogel team.
Job Titles:
- Professor
- Professor at TU Eindhoven
Prof. dr. ir. Luc Brunsveld is a professor at our university. His main fields of research are mainly concerning chemical biology, like Biochemistry or Molecular Cell Biology. Besides lecturing students, he conducts research concerning protein-protein interactions. He also advises us during our iGEM project, which we are more than happy with!
Job Titles:
- Expert
- Professor at the TU Eindhoven
Prof. dr. Maarten Merkx is an expert on protein sensors and leads the research group Protein Engineering operating at the interface of chemical biology and synthetic biology This year he is giving our team critical advice on how to achieve the goals we strive for.
I am following the master Biomedical Engineering and am mostly interested in areas such as protein engineering and molecular biology. After having studied this for years, I would like to apply this knowledge in a broad project like iGEM, where we have a lot of freedom to determine what we want to do. Therefore, we have the possibility of designing completely new systems and my goal is of course to make sure these will also function properly. After iGEM I would also like to continue with our work in my graduation project. As secretary, I will be largely responsible for maintaining contact with the many people we meet during our project, but I will also spend a lot of time in the lab and with Human Practices, where we'll translate our research area to the society. Apart from iGEM I also work as a tutor to teach and help high school students.
I am a third year Biomedical Engineering undergraduate at Eindhoven University of Technology. My main role in this team is the modelling of our system to support decisions we make in the lab. This includes finding suitable mutations for our constructs. I am also part of the WIKI team and work in the lab from time to time.
I Joined the iGEM team because I want to put the skills I have gained so far to contribute to society. I see great potential in the field of synthetic biology, making the iGEM competition a perfect opportunity for doing so. Not only have I put my skills to the test, I have also expanded my knowledge more than I had imagined when starting this project.
I'm a 2nd-year master student in Computational Biology and am thus currently learning all about machine learning and statistics. However, next to that I also gained lab experience from my previous year when I was in the group of Protein Engineering. In our project, I'll mainly be doing the programming, but since I also know my way around in the lab, starting with iGEM seemed like a great opportunity to me since I'd be able to combine these two worlds into one project. It's also great to be able to gain some soft skills and broaden my knowledge about synthetic biology while we are building our own project from the ground up.
To promote our project and organize events, we have Sander who is in charge of Public Relations. Organizing a Mini Jamboree, talking to newspapers and communicate between the University, our team and the other student teams Daily tasks for our PR guy. Next to PR, he is part of the Acquisition team and in the lab he can be found in the Cloning team. As Vice-Chairman he is also assisting Tim in managing the team. However on Thursday he can be found in the bar to serve beers to the rest of team. Thanks for that Sander, we need to relax as well!
As part of the iGEM team have been responsible for activities in the lab. Therefore I've seen how our project has developed over the summer starting with cloning activities and subsequent protein expression, purification and performing assays. We've had a big trial and error process and I can say I've learned a lot. I hope to pass on of this knowledge to the next iGEM team when they will appear in our labs. After the iGEM competition I will continue with research on this topic of inducing phase separation in the group of Luc Brunsveld under the watchful eye of Lenne. Besides that there must also be some time for relaxation purposes which I tend to fill in with judo and a bit of kickboxing. Two sports with also a big factor of trial and error. Although the errors might be more noticeable than when working in the lab.
A project like iGEM would be nowhere without funding, and that's what we have Simone for. Simone is our Sponsor Coordinator and is thus coordinating the Acquisition team to fund our project. She is also part of the Cloning team, Human Practices squad and is one of our two bachelor students. Side note, will eat Nutella without mercy and cookies are not safe around her either.
Tim is the team manager for this team. This means that he is responsible for the general atmosphere of the team and keeps track of all of our deadlines. To keep everything running smoothly as a student team, he is also communicating with our university together with Sander. In the lab, Tim is part of the Cloning team of our lab squad and he is also part of acquisition. 70% of the time we know where he is and we can see him. The other 30%? Try looking in the vicinity of the coffee booth and you will find him.
I just started my third year of Medical Sciences and Technology at the Eindhoven University of Technology. In this year's iGEM team, I am responsible for the PR and also part of the lab team. This means that I take care of the social media, I keep in touch with the iGEM Headquarters, and other contacts concerning our project.
Hello everyone! My name is Wouter Langers, I am 23 years old and currently in the first year of my Master's Programme Biomedical Engineering in the cluster of Chemical Engineering. I believe that joining iGEM allows me to put my theoretical knowledge, which I have gained in my bachelors, into practice. Besides this, it will give me the possibility to simultaneously improve my soft-skills. This year I will be the Lab Captain of the iGEM Eindhoven team. This means that I will be responsible for everything related to the lab, this includes making protocols, plannings and presentations. I will be in close contact with the other team members and the lab supervisor to discuss the results we get from the experiments.
Yahav is the Treasurer of our team. He is responsible for all of our money, which allows us to go to Boston! In the lab, Yahav leads with Mick the Adhesin squad. Aditionally, we have elected him to present at the Giant Jamboree. He travels on his motorcycle every day to Eindhoven for the team and we are very happy that he does that because we are glad to have him on the team!
Job Titles:
- Secretary & Public Relations
After following the iGEM process of the TU/e team last year, I thought it would be a great experience to participate in the competition this year myself. This because I want to broaden my experience in the lab for my own graduation research, and together with developing my communication skills, iGEM will be the best and most fun option to do so. By being a secretary and taking care of personal relations, together with performing experiments in the lab, I think iGEM will be a year with great challenges and a lot of learning opportunities.