Dr Mayi's biography

I have a PhD from Rice University, Houston, Texas, and MSc degrees from the University of Houston, Texas and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. I am an Associate Professor in the Centre for Bioengineering Research & Education and the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Calgary. My main research interests deal with the electrophysiology of the heart, using a combination of experimental measurements and computer modeling. I realized a few years ago that the modeling methods used in this research also can be applied to an area I knew nothing about at the time: Synthetic Biology. This is the third time I am involved as one of the facilitators for a U of C iGEM team. The idea of applying engineering methods to biology just keeps getting more fascinating to me the more I learn about it. This year, I am particularly excited about the fact that we have built a team with students from three faculties joining forces to address a problem of great relevance to our local economy.

I have been doing research in the field of environmental and petroleum microbiology for 20 years. I obtained my BSc and PhD degrees from the University of Alberta, then worked as a Senior Research Associate at the University of Oklahoma for a dozen years before returning to Alberta as an Assistant Professor in Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary. My research has focused on the aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation of hydrocarbons in the context of oil spill bioremediation and microbially enhanced energy recovery. Since arriving at the U of C, I’ve also been examining the microbiology of oil sands tailings ponds with an eye towards how microbes can be used in their bioreclamation. This is my first time being involved in iGEM. I am very excited by the possibility that tools of synthetic biology can be used to help in the tailings ponds biotreatment and hope to learn a lot about all aspects of iGEM from our dynamic and diverse group of students!

Biography