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BTP Student Committees
Social and Retreat Committee
The social committee aims to foster a sense of community among BTP Trainees and Cluster Students by organizing social and team building activities throughout the year.
Responsibilities and expectations of committee members:
- The responsibilities of the social committee are to plan quarterly extracurricular activities in order to build camaraderie amongst trainees, cluster members, and faculty. In addition, the social committee plans the BTP retreat which welcomes new joining members (generally occurs in early September).
- Examples of events planned by the social committee are: Lunches, dinners, trivia, movie and game nights.
Benefits of serving on this committee:
- Build camaraderie with BTP members and faculty
- Gain experience in event planning
- Personally enrich membership experience in BTP
Committee Members
- Manuel Fierro
- Andra Campbell
- Michael Anderson
Practicum Committee
The practicum committee has a central objective to provide "hands-on training" in current and emerging biotechnologies. The practicum should aim to empower students to learn about cutting-edge technologies and to catalyze the integration of these methodologies into their own research projects and laboratories. This event has historically been divided into theoretical (morning) and experiential (afternoon) components.
Responsibilities and expectations of committee members:
- Plan, organize, and run the annual BTP practicum held in the late summer (generally in August)
- Select the practicum topic (winter)
- Invite guest speakers (early spring)
- Schedule and organize the event (spring/summer)
Benefits of serving on this committee:
- Networking opportunity with invited speakers
- Experience organizing a large event
- Have the ultimate say in the practicum topic
Committee Members
- Jordan Summers
- Julie Bourgeois
- Roger Alvarado
- Yannick Schreiber
Seminar Committee
The seminar committee coordinates with BTP leadership to invite speakers for the BTP hosted seminars, including the Advances in Biotechnology class, throughout the year. The committee exists to gauge BTP member interest in various topics and research areas and to communicate that information to BTP leadership in order to guide which speakers are invited for the year.
Responsibilities and expectations of committee members:
- Send out survey to gauge fellow BTP member interest in various topics
- Help to organize a quarterly seminar (weekly in spring)
- Meets quarterly (or more if necessary) with BTP leadership to coordinate speaker invitations
- Optional: Personally invite and co-host speakers
Benefits of serving on this committee:
- Help guide selection of speakers and topics for seminars
- Opportunity to invite and host a speaker from a company/field you are interested in
Committee Members
- Stefan Pate
- Kevin Vasquez
- Claudia Oropeza
- T. Ocampo
Alumni and Networking Committee
The alumni and networking committee fosters connections between alumni and current trainees with the aim to improve industrial connections between the BTP and the larger biotechnology community. The committee does this by facilitating industrial site visits and an annual networking event.
Responsibilities and expectations of committee members:
- Plan a networking event with current and former BTP students and the greater biotechnology community within the university (fall)
- Plan at least one industrial site visit to local biotech company (winter/spring)
Benefits of serving on this committee:
- Improved connections with industry
- Opportunity for stronger connections with BTP alumni and the biotechnology community within Chicago and Evanston campuses
Committee Members
- Maanasa Narayanamoorthy
- Michaela Hennebury
- Herma Demissie
- Ryan McKeown