Difference between revisions of "Team:OLS Canmore Canada/Entrepreneurship"

 
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<h1 class="title">The Summary</h1>
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<h1 class="title">What We've Done</h1>
 
 
 
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In recent years, the issue of plastic pollution has become an overwhelming global crisis. Only 5% of all plastics are recycled and the rest ends up in landfills or oceans. When looking for a solution to this problem, the Design Thinking methodology learned at the Berkeley Program was applied. In the engagement with recycling stakeholders, the OLS SynBio team discovered that the issue is not the recycling of plastic, but instead the inefficient sorting of these plastics.</p>
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Our OLS Synbio team has created a project which is desirable by people, viable as a business, and feasible with technology. These are the three main pillars we built our project on.
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<p>To further understand this issue, the team participated in many community outreach events. OLS Synbio consulted with Simon Robbins, the corporate manager of a local recycling plant, who provided guidance and insight of how the recycling cycle works. OLS SynBio also met with Peter Duck, the zero waste manager for the town of Canmore. Lastly, the team went to the Alberta Recycling Conference to learn more about how plastics are recycled in the community, and how big the team’s contribution would be. Stakeholder feedback helped to pivot and refine the project. </p>
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<p>We have participated in many entrepreneurial workshops and conferences, such as the Berkeley Program, to learn about design thinking. The methodology of design thinking has been applied to each step of our project, over numerous iterations.  After months of research in many areas of study, we were able to narrow down our project to plastics. From there, we decided to focus on the recycling process of the plastic problem because of our outreach. We are grateful for our design thinking education; without it, we would not have had the tools to take this community feedback and help it re-direct our project to a more promising direction. With the knowledge from the Berkeley program, we knew that our idea had to be desirable by people, viable as a business, and feasible with technology, and we were able to pivot to our current direction.
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<tr><td class="imagecaptiontext">Some members of our team at the Canmore Sorting Facility.</td></tr>
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<h1 class="subtitle">The Subtitle</h1>
 
  
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<p>The project will use synthetic biology to create a novel fusion protein that can specifically bio-tag polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, so that it can be sorted and recycled correctly. The project involves two proteins, a polyethylene terephthalate hydrolase (PETase) and a hydrophobin called BsIA, that is produced by a bacterium chassis called Bacillus subtilis. The PETase protein naturally binds to PET and would be paired with a red fluorescent protein called mCherry to visually indicate when the protein has adhered. The hydrophobin is “water-fearing”, therefore it will bind to anything, but for this project, it will help to adhere the PETase specifically to PET plastic. The project plan is to experiment with the use of both proteins, together and independently. If successful, the bio-tag would be proof of concept for a novel technology that can be implement easily in existing recycling facilities.
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<p>We pitched our project to representatives from ATB Financial and received important feedback on what to incorporate when presenting a business plan, including advice on how to properly persuade the audience of the viability of our design. Determining the value propositions for our project was something we would not have considered without the input from ATB Financial professionals. We later met with and pitched to the Bow Valley Credit Union and other local business, and received numerous donations - a testament to our community support for our idea and for its viability.
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Before incorporating it into the recycling facility, the protein would be isolated and purified, and the team will run numerous proof-of-concept assays. The next step in the project is prototyping. The team has explored a prototype which would use a streamlined linear process that involves both existing technology and new robotics to effectively sort plastics. Early business modelling suggests that this project is desirable by people, feasible with technology and viable as a business.
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We presented our project at two different Mindfuel events, including Mindfuel's Alberta Genetically Engineered Machine (a provincial competition for iGEM teams, complete with an amazing panel of judges who provided excellent feedback to refine our project and presentation!), and were honored to win one first place award and financial grants from these events.  
 
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<p>In summary, the OLS SynBio team is creating a novel protein bio-tag that will adhere selectively to PET plastics.  This product has the potential to revolutionize the recycling industry, and reduce the current practice of landfilling poorly sorted plastics. This will create a truly circular life cycle for plastic products.</p>
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<p>Our team attended an entrepreneurship conference and workshop where we learned about how to turn a product into a business and how to give an effective value proposition. </p>
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<p>We also interviewed people who started and own their own biotechnology businesses, including Lisa Oberding and David Lloyd from Fredsense (Calgary, Alberta) and Justin Pahara and Julie Legault from Amino Labs (Lethbridge, AB).  Their stories and advice helped us understand how to take a passion for synthetic biology and turn it into a career.</p>
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<p>In addition to all this, our team wrote a paper for the high school peer-reviewed BioTreks journal.  While the article has not yet been published in their newest edition, you can find the link for it very soon on the Biotreks website. <a href="https://bioconverse.breezio.com/article/4947204225990919429/using-synthetic-biology-to-construct-a-pet-plastic-bio-tag-to-improve-plastic-sorting-at-recycling-facilities">here</a>.</p>
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<tr><td><img  width="100%"src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/thumb/0/02/T--OLS_Canmore_Canada--BerkeleyEntrepenurship.jpg/800px-T--OLS_Canmore_Canada--BerkeleyEntrepenurship.jpg  "></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="imagecaptiontext">Members of our team at the Berkeley Program in California.</td></tr>
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Latest revision as of 03:42, 18 October 2018

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

What We've Done

Our OLS Synbio team has created a project which is desirable by people, viable as a business, and feasible with technology. These are the three main pillars we built our project on.


We have participated in many entrepreneurial workshops and conferences, such as the Berkeley Program, to learn about design thinking. The methodology of design thinking has been applied to each step of our project, over numerous iterations. After months of research in many areas of study, we were able to narrow down our project to plastics. From there, we decided to focus on the recycling process of the plastic problem because of our outreach. We are grateful for our design thinking education; without it, we would not have had the tools to take this community feedback and help it re-direct our project to a more promising direction. With the knowledge from the Berkeley program, we knew that our idea had to be desirable by people, viable as a business, and feasible with technology, and we were able to pivot to our current direction.


We pitched our project to representatives from ATB Financial and received important feedback on what to incorporate when presenting a business plan, including advice on how to properly persuade the audience of the viability of our design. Determining the value propositions for our project was something we would not have considered without the input from ATB Financial professionals. We later met with and pitched to the Bow Valley Credit Union and other local business, and received numerous donations - a testament to our community support for our idea and for its viability.


We presented our project at two different Mindfuel events, including Mindfuel's Alberta Genetically Engineered Machine (a provincial competition for iGEM teams, complete with an amazing panel of judges who provided excellent feedback to refine our project and presentation!), and were honored to win one first place award and financial grants from these events.


Our team attended an entrepreneurship conference and workshop where we learned about how to turn a product into a business and how to give an effective value proposition.


We also interviewed people who started and own their own biotechnology businesses, including Lisa Oberding and David Lloyd from Fredsense (Calgary, Alberta) and Justin Pahara and Julie Legault from Amino Labs (Lethbridge, AB). Their stories and advice helped us understand how to take a passion for synthetic biology and turn it into a career.


In addition to all this, our team wrote a paper for the high school peer-reviewed BioTreks journal. While the article has not yet been published in their newest edition, you can find the link for it very soon on the Biotreks website. here.

Members of our team at the Berkeley Program in California.