The Scientists of Tomorrow: BioBuilder Club Students Showcase Innovation at Conference

BioBuilder is a non-profit organization that provides students and teachers with a comprehensive understanding of synthetic biology and the biotech field through hands-on learning, lab activities, and peer-to-peer learning. The Hamden Hall BioBuilder Club was formed as an extracurricular offering during the 2024-2025 academic year with Upper School science teacher Daniel Kemp as the club advisor. The club members have been meeting weekly since October and organized themselves in two groups: Mutation Nation and Genius Bar. The two groups brainstorm together to develop meaningful projects that address real-world challenges with guidance from industry mentors including Dr. Hiroko Kaczmarek and current parent Dr. James Gregory.

The student representatives for Mutation Nation included junior Freddy Xiang, sophomores Dora Lin, Julian Shao, Yaohan Wang, and freshmen Andrew Aldo, Eli Davis, and Austin Zhou. Sophomore Madelon Parke and freshman Kinan Harb are the group leaders with Dr. Gregory as the volunteer mentor. The student representatives for Genius Bar included seniors Arya Chen and Grace Yang; juniors Anni Chen, Becky Liu, Fred Liu, Anand Persaud, and Amy Zhou; and sophomores Burt Lin, Trista Luan, and Vivian Martin. Seniors Kelly Du and Lan Liu are the group leaders with Dr. Kaczmarek as the volunteer mentor. 

The Poster Conference welcomed 500 students from 48 schools with 82 teams from 13 different states and four countries. Mr. Kemp and Science Department Chair Dr. Gina D’Angelo accompanied the students for the day as 11 club members participated in the poster session. Senior Grace Yang was the first student speaker and delivered a one-minute “lightning talk” presentation detailing the group’s project to the audience. Students from the other teams took turns to explain their group's work in front of electronic poster boards and answered any follow-up questions. 

“I am incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication of our students as this experience pushed many beyond their comfort zones,” said Mr. Kemp. “Dr. D’Angelo and I would like to extend a thank you to both Dr. Hiroko Kaczmarek and Dr. James Gregory for their time, knowledge, and support.”