Charles Miller

Ronald Sims

Dean H. Scott Hinton

In 1981, he joined AT&T Bell Laboratories in Naperville, IL as a Member of the Technical Staff. He was promoted to supervisor of the Photonic Switching Technologies group in 1985 and then Head of the Photonic Switching Department in 1989. From 1992 to 1994, he was the BNR-NT/NSERC Chair in Photonic Systems at McGill University and from 1994 to 1999 he was the Hudson Moore Jr. Professor of Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and finally from1999 to 2002 he was the Dean E. Ackers Distinguished Professor and the Chairman of University of Kansas Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. In 2002, he accepted the position as the Dean of the College of Engineering at Utah State University. He has been very active in the scientific and engineering community where he has published over 35 journal articles and 85 conference papers. He has also been active in service to the professional community by serving in leadership positions for numerous technical conferences and workshops. Dean Hinton has also been awarded 12 patents. His current research is focused on developing systems applications of smart pixels and free-space optical interconnection, biophotonic systems, and in developing and understanding technology-enhanced learning environments. He was an IEEE-LEOS Distinguished Lecturer for 1993-94 and is a fellow of both the IEEE and OSA.

What We Did

Building upon the CyanoBrick toolkit developed by the 2010 Utah State iGEM team, our project will focus on producing valuable bioproducts using Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Our project will attempt to produce 3 different bioproducts: fatty alcohols, wax esters, and alkanes/alkenes. Fatty alcohols and wax esters are used to produce cosmetics, lubricants, and various pharmaceuticals. Fatty alcohols with a 20-carbon chain are used in the cold sore medication Abreva[reference needed], and long chain fatty alcohols have been linked to improved heart health [reference needed]. Alkanes and alkenes are utilized as hydrocarbon fuels. The production of these bioproducts in cyanobacteria will greatly reduce their cost and increase their availability. In addition to producing bioproducts, our project will also provide a more detailed characterization of the promoters and ribosome binding sites (RBS) produced by the 2010 Utah State iGEM Team. Utilizing a dual luciferase expression measurement construct, and reference promoters from E. coli and Synechocystis, our team will more precisely characterize the expression levels of 23 promoters under standard growth conditions, compared with the GFP-based measurements made in 2010. We will also produce useful intermediate parts, which are currently not available through the registry, allowing the dual luciferase expression measurement system to be easily adapted to new organisms and new reference promoters.

Team History

Utah State University first participated in the iGEM competition in 2008. Since then, the Utah State team has had the opportunity to put synthetic biology to use in many ways. Past projects include:

2008: Efficient Systems for Monitoring PHB Production in Microorganisms

2009: BioBricks without Borders

2010: CyanoBricks: Developing a Cyanobacterial Toolbox

Throughout its participation, the Utah State team has brought home two gold medals as well as a bronze medal. Several former team members are now attending prestigious medical and graduate schools around the country. Others have gone on to successful careers in biotechnology.

Utah State University

Nestled in Cache Valley in northern Utah, Utah State University is sometimes overlooked as a quality college. Despite humble beginnings as a land-grant Agricultural School in 1888, USU has propelled itself into national status on the academic and athletic level. It was recently heralded as the #1 highest-ranked public university in the West and #4 in the nation for lowest tuition in "America's Top Colleges" (Forbes, "America's Best College Buys," Aug. 2011). Engineering programs at USU consistently bring in laurels from national and international competitions.