Team:SMTexas/team

From left to right:
Top Row: Kevin Wu, Rohan Pinto, Vik Reddy, Halbert Bai, Akshay Malhotra, Killian Green, Mark Adame
Bottom Row: Tim O'Meara, Ali Ahmed, Abhi Thummala, Kevin Choi, Mitchell So, Rohin Maganti, Johnathan Ng, Jeffrey Wu, Vishal Gokani

Halbert Bai is a Benjamin Franklin Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. He recently graduated as the valedictorian of his class at St. Mark’s School of Texas. Highly interested in science and art, he has pursued laboratory research experiences, collaborated with professional artists across creative disciplines, and sought related extracurricular work. In high school, he was inducted into the Cum Laude Society, the Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Marque Magazine of Arts and Letters, and a member of the Community Service Board. He spearheaded a biotechnology initiative at St. Mark’s through iGEM, an international synthetic biology competition. Artistically, Halbert focuses on photography, video production, and graphic design. He has been recognized as one of the top young photographers in the United States by the National YoungArts Foundation and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. Halbert specializes in creating images that capture the beautiful bond between man and nature while documenting the stunning magnificence of light and atmosphere. His photographs have also been exhibited in eight countries on five continents. His videos and designs are characterized by beautiful aesthetics and evocative visual narration. Halbert is the Founder and Captain of the St. Mark's iGEM Team. He combines an unwavering commitment to the Team with a genuine passion for serving humanity through innovative and original research. Under his leadership, the Biology Club was completely revitalized and the St. Mark's iGEM Team catalyzed a movement toward more independent research on campus and brought awareness to synthetic biology.

Tim O'Meara is a rising Junior at St. Mark's who enjoys learning more about developments in biology. As the team's vice captain, Tim focused on many aspects of the project including research, outreach, and the film. A 2014 USA Biology Olympiad (USABO) semi-finalist, Tim is engaging in research in a pediatric oncology lab at UT Southwestern Medical Center this summer. Tim has a variety of interests outside of biology. He is a captain of the math team, member of the quiz bowl team and philosophy club, photographer for the school’s newspaper and yearbook and a two-time letterman on the varsity golf team. Tim also mentored a group of 6th grade students through the Telos leadership and ethics program, coached MathCounts for middle school students and is an Eagle scout.

Rohan Pinto is a senior who likes to play the violin, learn Chinese, and tutor kids. Rohan is the President of the Chinese Club, the Junior Assistant Scout Master of Troop 730, and Treasurer for the Biology Club. He has made All-State three times and was assistant concertmaster for the 2013-2014 All-State Orchestra. Rohan has also received the Upper School Orchestra Award. Rohan is the Director of Basic Research for the iGEM team and helps with creating and discovering various mechanisms that detect VOCs in Lung Cancer patients. In addition, he also assists with the team poster and teaching basic DNA science concepts.

Rohin is a rising sophomore at St.Mark’s School of Texas. He plays the violin in the upper school orchestra and made first violin in the high school region orchestra. In sports, he is member of the swimming team and the junior varsity water polo teams. Outside of the school community, he is an eagle scout and assistant senior patrol leader in Troop 730 at St. Mark's. In iGEM, he worked to find gene mechanisms to detect VOCs and was a director of fundamental research. He has also worked to edit a few tutorial videos for the iGEM team. Finally, Rohin is also a member of the leadership and ethics council and investment club, the JETS annual competition, and the quiz bowl team.

Raymond Guo is a rising senior at St. Mark’s School of Texas. Very interested in math and science, he is both a United States of America Junior Mathematical Olympiad (USAJMO) Qualifier and a United States of America Physics Team Semifinalist. Captain of both the math and physics teams, member of the Cum Laude Society, Harvard Prize Book Award Winner, and a Rensselaer Medalist, his passion for learning is clearly evident in his endeavors. In addition to the sciences, he loves music; he has played piano for eleven years, is a member of the All-State Choir, and has received the James Livengood Upper School Chorus Award. He is a co-director of the Basic Research Committee on the iGEM team. Working with Rohan and Rohin, he has done research on potential VOCs in lung cancer patients and on genes that could indicate the presence of these VOCs.

Akshay Malhotra is a rising junior at St. Mark’s School of Texas. Aside from working on iGEM and biology, in which he received a Certificate of Excellence for Highest School Score in the University of Toronto National Biology Competition, he plays chess. He is a US chess national master, who holds four national titles, including the reigning US Expert Champion title, and ten Texas state titles. He also tied for third place in last year’s World Amateur Chess Championship in Romania. He uses his chess skill to serve the community as he teaches chess to elementary students. Akshay is the Projects Manager of the Biology Club and the Director of Applied Research of the iGEM Team. He has worked to engineer the bacteria to be able to detect lung cancer VOCs.

Kevin Wu is a rising junior at St. Mark's School of Texas. He swims year-round and trains over ten hours a week. Kevin is also the co-president of the Classics Club and the Director of Calender on the Community Service Board. Kevin is very active in helping the community, earning the bronze presidential award in freshman year and the gold presidential award in sophomore year. He has been chosen by his peers to lead the class as a co-chair in the annual McDonald's Week Fundraiser which raises money for the Austin Street Homeless Shelter. He is the director of applied research on the iGEM team as well as the interim director of web development. Kevin has worked with Akshay to understand the different methods of engineering bacterial while working on the wiki after the website crashed.

Killian Green is a rising sophomore at St. Mark’s School of Texas. He is the Director of Outreach for the SMiGEM team. Killian plays the cello in the Upper School Orchestra and the piano. He enjoys using his literary expertise and graphic design skills as an involved member of The Marque, the St. Mark’s Upper School Literary Magazine, as well as the Marksmen yearbook. Killian is a member of the Classics Latin Club and has helped his team in bringing home gold medals in the Texas State Junior Classical League. He is also a member of the Varsity Crew and volleyball teams. He enjoys volunteering at the Jubilee Center, tutoring inner-city and often underprivileged kids.

Abhi Thummala is a rising junior at St. Mark's School of Texas. In addition to his contributions as Director of Outreach on the iGem team, Abhi will compete on the volleyball and track and field teams. Abhi is the Graphics Director on the school newspaper, the ReMarker, which he writes and designs graphics for. He is also involved in the medical club, Caduceus Club, the Leadership and Ethics Committee, and community service. In addition to his work on campus, Abhi is working on his AP art portfolio. Abhi has worked with Killian Green to create graphics, draw a comic, and spread awareness about biotechnology.

Vikrant Reddy is a rising sophomore at St. Mark’s School of Texas. He is the director of web development for the SMTexas iGEM team and created the wiki. Vikrant is also a member of the St. Mark's debate team. Some of his other interests include medicine and crew. He served as the class secretary and is also involved in the Caduceus Club and the Visiting Scholar Advisory Board. Vikrant also assisted the robotics team in the beginning of the year.

Jeffrey Wu recently graduated from St. Mark’s School of Texas and will attend Duke University this fall. He has a passion for science, community service, and baseball. A 3-time Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Award winner and member of the community service board, Jeffrey completed more than 900 hours of community service throughout high school. He was Vice-President and Vice-Captain of the Biology Club and the iGEM team. In addition, Jeffrey holds 6 varsity letters in swimming and baseball. Jeffrey is part of the Fundamental Research Team and helps with creating and discovering various mechanisms that detect volatile organic compounds in lung cancer patients.

Ali Ahmed ’14 recently graduated St. Mark’s. Currently, Ali plans on dual majoring in Finance and Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He hopes to pursue a career in venture capital in Silicon Valley. Ali enjoys engineering, playing sports, and reading about current events. While at St. Mark’s, Ali was captain of the robotics team, the rocketry club. Ali was brought on to the iGem team to help engineering design and genetic circuits.

Jonathan Ng is a recent graduate of St. Mark’s School of Texas and will attend Yale University in the fall of 2014. As a student at St. Mark’s, he was the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Marque Magazine of Arts and Letters, the St. Mark’s Community Service Board Drives Chair, and the President of the Caduceus Medical Club. In the future, Jonathan hopes to combine his love of the humanities and sciences in his undergraduate studies. As a member of the iGEM team, Jonathan enjoys the precise nature of research and how these minute details can lead to a beautiful and influential result. He looks forward to seeing the iGEM project progress and influence the St. Mark's and greater Dallas community.

Vishal Gokani '14 is a 12-year Marksman who strives to find ways to contribute to the scientific community at St. Mark's, even assisting a substitute science teacher who had to take on a last-minute class. He enjoys supporting his longtime friend and fellow student Halbert Bai, president of the team, and discussing the group's dynamics and progress. Vishal is honored to be a member of this new group and is eager to see its progress as younger students take the reins in future years.

Luke Williams just graduated from St. Mark’s and is heading to the University of Virginia as a Jefferson Scholar. Basketball, football, and leadership are Luke's biggest hobbies. Luke joined the biology club because he liked the leadership initiative, and he helped to write the mission statement.

Mitchell So is a rising Junior at St. Mark’s school of Texas. He has been in the St. Mark’s Orchestra for 6 years. Mitchell is also a year-round fencer, representing the US in the 2013 Cadet World Cup in Konin, Poland and winning the 2013 Louisville Y-14 North American Cup. Mitchell is also very involved in Community service. In addition to being a member of the Drives Committee, Mitchell also earned the Presidential Bronze award for community service freshman year and the Silver award sophomore year. Mitchell is a member of the Applied Research Team in iGEM.

Shaheer Khan is a sophomore at St. Mark’s School of Texas. He is heartfelt in science, especially in biology, math, and journalism. He will be working on the school’s yearbook called the Marksmen for the next three years. In addition to academics, Shaheer shows passion in basketball, which he plays almost all year. He is also involved in the caduceus club, investment club, and first aid club. He loves to volunteer, especially activities that involve children or young kids. Shaheer works in the Applied Research team in iGEM.

Eric Li has been at St. Mark’s since the fifth grade and is a rising junior. Eric is passionate about swimming. He has been a part of the Varsity Swimming Team since freshman year. Eric has also played violin in the Upper School Orchestra since freshman year, and was selected to the Texas All-State Orchestra for the past two years. In addition to swimming and orchestra, he is passionate about volunteering and community service. Since his freshman year, he has been a part of the palliative/pastoral care team at Baylor Medical Center at Garland and provides music therapy for patients by playing the violin. Eric is also passionate about the sciences, especially about biotechnology and biomedical research. During his free time, he has been working in the laboratory of University of Texas at Dallas, focusing at nanotechnology in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Gopal is a freshman at St. Mark’s and served as the Projects Manager of the Biology Club. In iGEM, he worked under the Applied Research Division. He also plays tennis for the Varsity team and is one of the Co-Presidents of the Philosophy Club. Other than science, he loves the literary arts and is the student vice-chair of the Literary Festival. He also writes for the Marque and The ReMarker. In addition, he serves on the Community Service Board. He also works with younger students in Telos 4.

Kevin Choi is a rising sophomore at St. Mark's School of Texas. He likes math and playing frisbee and pool. He also recently qualified for the United States Junior Math Olympiad (USAJMO). Kevin Choi has only recently joined the iGEM project, but as a member of the web development team, he aids the progress of the technological parts of the project

Kunal Dixit is a rising senior and 12-year Marksman who enjoys learning about biology and interacting with younger kids to help spark scientific interest in future generations. A member of the Community Service Board, Kunal enjoys the community outreach and education portion of the iGEM project. A recent member of the iGEM Team, he has also helped produce the tutorial videos and a film about the iGEM team, its goal, and its future.