Archive for the Networking Category

DC Science and Engineering Fair this weekend looking for judges

The DC Science and Engineering Fair is this weekend and they’re looking for judges, so I thought I’d send it your way. I won’t be able to make it, but looks like a fun way to volunteer some time to future nerds.

http://www.dcsef.com/Judging.html

First Issue of Citizen Science Quarterly finished…

http://citizensciencequarterly.com/

First issue ready, second issue awaiting submissions.

Open Science Summit, July 29-31, in person or live webcast

Was just checking out our friends at the Foresight Institute and came upon this information…

“The Open Science Summit on July 29-31 in Berkeley is looking better and better.

Topics include OpenPCR, DIY biology, open source hardware, brain preservation, synthetic biology, gene patents, open data, open access journals, reputation engines, crowd-funding and microfinance for science, citizen science, biohacking, open source biodefense, cure entrepreneurs, open source drug discovery, patent pools, tech transfer, and much more.

Here’s some advance media coverage:

http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco/2010/07/07/the-open-science-shift/

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2010/07/diy-biotechnologists-go-looking-for-a-bigger-garage/59701/

If you can’t attend in person, watch the webcast live at:

http://fora.tv/live/open_science/open_science_summit_2010

Put it on your calendar now!  Or we’ll hope to see you in person, especially for the session where Christine Peterson is speaking: “Safety and Security Concerns, Open Source Biodefense” at 5:15 PM on Friday. “

2 More Public Summits with BioEthics.gov

The Federal Policy Makers have 2 more public forums to be held later this summer/fall.
Future Meetings
September 13-14 in Philadelphia,Pa.

November 16-17 in Atlanta, Ga.

Read the Agenda, Check out the Synthetic Biology background paper and make your voice heard if so called.

http://www.bioethics.gov/

Presidential Summit on BioEthics

The Presidential Summit on BioEthics met last week with Drew Endy, Rob Carlson and others addressing the Obama Administration.

Flash Video’s available

http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/bioethics/100708/

Make Magazine’s Best of 2009 - Med & Bio Hacks

Medical and Bio: Open source hardware 2009 - The definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2009.

BioCapital Career Fair - Today

BioCapital Career Fair
Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center
Thursday, May 20, 2010
11am to 4pm

Click here to register: http://www.biospace.com/jobs/career-fair-detail/?CareerFairId=195

Looking for a new job? Networking with industry peers in an ever-changing work environment?

Attend the BioCapital Career Fair!
Job seekers can spend a day with HR representatives and Hiring Managers from top biotech, pharma, and medical device companies in the mid-Atlantic region.

Who should attend?
Candidates with a 4-year degree in the life sciences and a minimum of 2-years of industry related experience are invited to attend.
(Equivalent work experience may be considered in lieu of a four-year college degree. PhD and Postdoc candidates welcome.)

What types of positions are available?
Exhibiting companies are recruiting for positions in areas such as: QA/QC, clinical research, engineering, biostatistics, clinical data management, chemistry, regulatory affairs, and research.

What companies will be there?
Scroll to the bottom of the pages to see a list of exhibiting companies. Take the time to research what each company is recruiting for to see if you are a match. Most companies will be from the mid-Atlantic region, but some will travel from other areas to attract top talent! If you can’t make it on event day, you can still pre-register online to allow exhibiting companies to view your resume and contact you outside of the career fair.

Exhibiting Companies
Aerotek Scientific, LLC
DHHS/FDA/Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research
Emergent BioSolutions
Osiris Therapeutics, Inc.
QIAGEN
SAIC-Frederick, Inc.
The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine
United States Food and Drug Administration

Click here to register: http://www.biospace.com/jobs/career-fair-detail/?CareerFairId=195

  • Location: North Bethesda Marriott
  • Compensation: competitive salary + benefits
  • Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
  • Please, no phone calls about this job!
  • Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

JCVI SynBio Lecture?

I’ve been in contact with the Educational Outreach at J. Craig Venter International in Rockville, and suggested that we’d love to speak to some of their scientists working in Synthetic Biology, as part of the spring/summer lecture series. They have responded postively and are awaiting a speaker proposal. We’ll discuss the timing and subject matter of this at our next meeting on the 12th of April.

Next Generation Sequencing / Lab on A Chip / DNA Synthesis

I recently contacted Bryan Bishop of the H+ community in regards to what the state of the art of DIY synthesis was, since I was interested in seeing if we can make an inexpensive unit. He suggested that the inkjet synthesis was far too bulky, and suggested I check out the newer Lab on a Chip/microfluidic assemblies. What many array manufacturers are referring to as NGS or Next Generation Sequencing, that can put together entire chromosomes.

Here are a few of the players in the field as of the moment.

Bryan has a whole bunch of DIY-based information on the subject, and  is willing to  correspond. Unfortunately most of this is abit over my head with my current lack of engineering background. I’m hoping a few of you, might have some interest in following this up.

“Right now there’s a lot of background community support for building a DIY DMD micromirror array for photolabile-based DNA synthesis. These rrays cost about $300 for 1024×2048 cells. The major cost otherwise
is documenting, confirming and purchasing the requisite chemicals. The inkjet plotter approach is interesting, but big and bulky and very expensive. Hell, PoSaM was in a nitrogen atmosphere or something. So, if you’re interested in the DIY DMD micromirror array approach, please it me up.. I have lots of literature that you can download on the subject.

And in general I have lots of literature available here:
http://designfiles.org/papers/
http://designfiles.org/papers/microfluidics/
.. and if you do express an interest in the DMD approach, I’ll dig up the relevant papers.”

Thanks Bryan, we’ll definately be getting back in contact with you regarding this.

Brain-Machine Interfaces

Futures in Biotech 49: Dr. Justin Sanchez walks us through the technology of brain machine interfaces.