Present Around the World winners

Winner

Padmanabhan Krishnamurthy, representing Asia Pacific region.

Padmanabhan is a third-year student of Computer Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Hailing from Bangalore, India, he possesses a keen interest in computer science and looks for ways to apply emergent technology to enhance the environment, healthcare and other aspects of life.

Since moving to Hong Kong in 2017, he has engaged himself in researching machine learning and applying it to multiple domains.

Outside academia, he is a public speaker, avid reader and Wodehousian.

Runner up

Amy Chen, representing Americas region.

Presentation title: Astroplastic: from colon to colony

Amy graduated from the Bachelor of Health Sciences Honors Program at the University of Calgary. She is currently in her first year of a Doctor of Medicine degree at Queen’s University School of Medicine. Amy participated in the International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (iGEM) in 2017 as part of the UCalgary team, conceptualizing a start-to-finish process for PHB bioplastic production from solid human waste.

Amy continued her involvement in the project as a subsystem lead for Astroplastic, a project selected for engineered systems testing in microgravity as part of the CAN-RGX challenge with many other fellow iGEM Calgary teammates. Amy is currently the North America iGEM Ambassador and Ambassador Program Coordinator and works to promote synthetic biology and iGEM in the region. Her interests lie in the intersection of biotechnology, community-engagement, and policy development in the advancement of Synthetic Biology.