Team Log

The Montgomery iGEM's teams documentation of activities, labs, and lectures for each day.

November 22nd 2013
Mission Statement	We wanted to implement a new attendance sign-in setup, announce participation consent forms (principle consent form), and organize sub-teams.
Meeting Overview	We started by electronically taking attendance and introducing the two sub-teams. All members were allowed to choose their sub-teams (may cut down R&D later). We talked about fundraising because of the December 31st deadline of registration and payment. Possible fundraising ideas: - Hot chocolate - Snow-hat sales - ShopRite Bagging It was also the last “introductory” meeting. We announced the deadline for leadership applications due Wednesday, November 27 and reminded members to fill out consent forms.
Goals/Tasks for Next Meeting	We planned to come up with an idea for fundraising and collect all the participation consent forms. Finished principle consent form
Other Notes	If members tried to look for sponsors, they had to send iGEM write-ups to them. We found sponsors quickly and focused on small companies in Montgomery. In addition, we checked with the supervisor to see whether he had any ideas or grants.

December 13th 2013
Mission Statement	We aimed to effectively organize the team and keep progressing with the fundraising and sponsorship efforts, as well as assemble the 2013-2014 board members.
Meeting Overview	We began the meeting by announcing the 2013/2014 board members, followed by showing a video about synthetic biology to help members understand the importance of the team. The team will consist of the board as well as two sub-teams. The board collected emails and planned for fundraising and registration.
Goals/Tasks for Next Meeting	We hoped to start teaching the basics of synthetic biology, organizing the ShopRite bagging fundraiser, creating online accounts for everyone, and cleaning up attendance lists.

December 20th 2013
Mission Statement	We designed biological circuit from DNA sequence
Meeting Overview	We received confirmation from ShopRite. The college advisor, Gavin from Purdue University came in to discuss synthetic biology and safety regulations. The R&D team learned how to use micropipettes while the operations discussed fundraiser ideas. .
Goals/Tasks for Next Meeting	ShopRite bagging fundraiser

January 17th 2014
Mission Statement	We learned information and became organized for the future.
Meeting Overview	The meeting began with a presentation on synthetic biology. We discussed cutting down the R&D team, introduced plasmids and gene cloning, and explained the operations team structure. We also researched wiki websites.
Goals/Tasks for Next Meeting	There were two goals: we went over the lab procedure for the pGLO lab and we established a bank account for Montgomery iGEM.
Other Notes	We created a curriculum for the next few weeks, began discussing T-shirt designs and organized a board meeting at the Princeton Public Library on Sunday, 1/19/14.

January 24th 2014
Mission Statement	Teach members about pGLO Lab.
Meeting Overview	We explained how the iGEM google drive folders work and showed a bacterial transformation video. We ran a Q&A session. Each member had to demonstrate knowledge of the steps of the pGLO lab.
Goals/Tasks for Next Meeting	We will understand the process of bacterial transformation and introduce laboratory techniques
Other Notes	T-shirt design should be done by Feb 14th. Design winner gets free t-shirt

January 31th 2014
Mission Statement	Go over lab technique.
Meeting Overview	Aseptic technique, review pGLO lab. How to clean with a Bunsen Burner(if metal use plastic loop).
Goals/Tasks for Next Meeting	We accomplished the pGLO lab successfully without contamination and learned to make our own plasmids to put into bacteria.

February 20th 2014
Mission Statement	We changed the dynamics of iGEM and administered the lab practical.
Meeting Overview	We collected t-shirt money, and Robert gave a speech on dynamics. There was a Q&A session about the lab practical and iGEM
Goals/Tasks for Next Meeting	Prepare for pGLO lab
Other Notes	Shoprite bagging in March Need to take yearbook photo soon. Meetings are mandatory.

March 7th 2014
Mission Statement	We finished the pGLO lab today. We organized the operations team.
Meeting Overview	We formatted team organization, finalize acne project description, and administered the practice lab documentations. Board member headshots were also taken.
Goals/Tasks for Next Meeting	We started DNA ligation lessons and researched more on the acne project.
Other Notes	We started website structure.

March 14th 2014
Mission Statement	We played an icebreaker to unify the team, went over lab results, and did post-lab calculations.
Meeting Overview	We went over t-shirt sizes, reviewed team members' names and favorite Pokemon, went over results from pGLO lab, counted number of colonies growing under UV light, and calculated transformation efficiency.
Goals/Tasks for Next Meeting	We will learn about DNA ligation.
Other Notes	Although some students failed, they worked hard on the lab.

April 4th 2014
Mission Statement	Continue research on project.
Meeting Overview	We continued researching appropriate promoters, ribosome binding sites, and terminators on the iGem registry.
Goals/Tasks for Next Meeting	We will receive a lesson on mathematical modeling from Dr. Fishman.

April 11th 2014
Mission Statement	We had a presentation of mathematical modeling by Dr.Fishman.
Meeting Overview	Dr. Fishman came to for an overview of mathematical modeling. R&D researched further for an enzyme that would break down fatty acids.
Goals/Tasks for Next Meeting	We hope to further understand mathematical modeling.

May 30th 2014
Mission Statement	Refine the Team Wiki and order the materials for our project.
Meeting Overview	Board Members and other juniors gathered to finalize the wiki page as well as take care of materials. We all continued researching promoters and ribosome binding sites for our project.
Goals/Tasks for Next Meeting	Continue progressing through the steps needed to finalize the project and synthesize our desired protein.

Team:Montgomery Cougars NJUSA/Team Log