Team:TPHS SanDiego/Team

We are brothers and sisters who together have sacrificed life and limb on the altar of science. We are a dynamic group of high school students aspiring to hop onto the band wagon of bioengineering set in motion by our predecessors. Facing limitless and oftentimes frustrating challenges has strengthened the bonds we have formed in our mutual love for bioengineering. The team consists of determined 10th and 11th graders at Torrey Pines High School. Being from sunny San Diego we are not accustomed to the faster more upbeat life in the East, so it should be quite the journey. Our members are vibrant and fun loving, but don’t let that fool you, when it comes down to the competition, we will show no mercy. Mentorship has been provided by three generous, svelte and praise-worthy graduate students at UCSD, who have opened both their labs and their hearts to us in a philanthropic attempt to enhance our learning experience and bolster our chances of success. We all have great Chemistry Biology, and are monumentally excited for the Jamboree.

Tareq is a hip and spry junior at TPHS who wants to major in bioengineering, but that doesn’t distract people from the simple fact that he’s the best at everything he does. Everything he touches turns to gold simply because every aspect of his personality is flawless, particularly his modesty.

Mokhshan is a svelte junior at TPHS who aspires to delve head first into a medicine-related field. Through useful suggestions and practical solutions, Mokhshan is able to boost the teams’ confidence by boosting our chances of success. At times he may frighten you, what with the black belt in Taekwondo, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly and seems to always greet the team optimistically with “So I’ve been thinking about an idea…”

Brian is an amazing junior at TPHS who amazingly aspires to fly towards the amazing field of Chemistry and Engineering. He is amazingly deep. Brian likes to baffle and stupefy his amazing friends with amazingly intangibly deep philosophy, hence earning him the most amazing nickname: "The Philosopher". Ladies say Brian is cute, but he doesn't approve. He is too amazingly good for them. Isn't it amazing?

Brandon is a junior at TPHS who wants to major in Bioengineering. He never ceases to put smiles on the faces of those he interacts with. Through good will and contagious catch phrases such as "dabes" and "next level" Brandon is able to charm the team and lighten the mood, even in the darkest of times. His constant lethargy reminds us of how important sleep really is, as is displayed in the somewhat unflattering portrait above.

Gha Young likes things

Brandon likes things

Hope likes things

Superman likes things

Spencer is an enigmatic second? year PhD student who refuses to add Tareq on Facebook because it would "ruin the students' ability to respect him as a mentor." When Spencer isn't making decisions unbecoming of a role model you'll find him training for triathlons or playing beach volleyball. Just kidding, you will actually find him in the Hasty Lab working on quorum sensing genetic circuits for microfluidic devices, or sitting at his computer uploading photos to Instagram updating his lab notebook. Spencer was on the 2011 Berkeley iGEM team and is happy to be back in a different role and spreading his love for Synthetic Biology.

Simply put, John is the Most Interesting Man in the World. Alternatively put, he used to be a helicopter snowboarding instructor. If that hasn't convinced you, John got his BA in Rhetoric when he was 20, then lived in a truck for 2 years at the bottom of Mt. Baker where he recorded snowfall for avalanche studies while flirting with the idea of becoming a professional snowboarder. Instead, he decided getting a BS in Chemical Engineering in 3 years was a more fitting challenge. John was on the 2011 Wisconsin-Madison iGem team and remembers seeing Spencer in his stupid checkered inspector hat and thinking "What a doofus!"

Dan likes to think that he is Batman. But he also likes to imitate Superman.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.