平特五不中

Voted by the EUS as Department of the Year, a lot of the excitement about Bioengineering's sudden rise to stardom is last year鈥檚 1st place at the听2023 iGEM Grand Jamboree.

Dan Nicolau is Chair and a Professor in the Department. From his third-floor office in the McConnell Engineering Building, one can make out the mountain even though it鈥檚 a grey day. There is a hint of a smile as he talks about the beginnings of the Department, which launched in 2012. It wasn鈥檛 until early 2013 that Nicolau arrived, and it was August before five professors were added to the existing team of two faculty and one staff member. 鈥淲e knew we had great professors and that we鈥檇 planned a great program,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut the fact is we didn鈥檛 have labs for another two years.鈥�

Nicolau and Professor Codruta Ignea are not sure that everyone understands the magnitude of the iGEM win. 鈥淭hese are the very best students from all over the world,鈥� says Ignea. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the biggest international competition in synthetic biology. With 400 teams, 400 judges and 4000 participants, it takes a full year for the competing teams to pass through the steps that take them to the Grand Jamboree.鈥�

Working closely with Ignea, Bioengineering students made up nearly half of the 平特五不中 iGEM team. The group reached the Top 10 and then went on to win the Gold Medal for undergraduates, as well as taking home 3 of the 4 Special Prizes they were nominated for.

Nicolau is proud of the approximately 160 undergraduates in the Department, which each year accepts about another 70 students. He is especially proud of the undergraduates that represented 平特五不中 in Paris last year. It鈥檚 a known fact that the unit doesn鈥檛 cover travel costs for students to present unless they are dedicated to making their mark. 鈥淚 saw early on that this team was very committed,鈥� he nods, eyes twinkling.

鈥淲e have some of the best Bioengineering students in the world,鈥� says Nicolau. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 largely because we had the opportunity to start from scratch when we were designing our undergraduate program. We鈥檙e one of the few programs in the world that isn鈥檛 a spinoff of another program.鈥�

Students in the undergraduate Bioengineering Program at 平特五不中 spend their first year learning basic natural sciences, with a focus on Biology. In Year 2, each student proceeds along the stream with which they feel most comfortable and are best at. They enter the 鈥渦niverse鈥� of Biological Engineering through the door of Physics, Chemistry or Math/Computer Science.

No matter which stream they follow, 平特五不中 students have a solid base in Biology. Some other bioengineering programs demand less. This makes 平特五不中 students particularly strong. They stand out.

Each year, the Department accepts 2-4% of the students who apply. Currently about 80 students are working on graduate research. There are 12 professors and 4 faculty lecturers. In the 2022-23 academic year, 56% of the Department鈥檚 undergraduate students identified as women.

It was the 20^th anniversary of the iGEM competition. 平特五不中鈥檚 team delivered a proof of concept for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, a disease that kills 500,000 people every year. .

Last year was also the Bioengineering Department鈥檚 10^th anniversary.

What does Nicolau see for the future? He laughs. 鈥淟abs? Oh, you mean best-case scenario. Well, it would be great for us to have our own building so we can live like a family. Our culture has really developed over at the UQAM space, but now it鈥檚 time to bring everyone together. We鈥檙e spread out all over the place.鈥�

鈥淎nd professors. We currently have 16 if you count the lecturers, but we can already see we鈥檒l need 24. The one-year Biomanufacturing non-thesis master鈥檚 program will add 30-50 students a year. Industrial facilities like Moderna in Laval already need our grads,鈥� he says.

Nicolau wants to keep as many students as he can to maintain the critical mass that the department has developed in place, 鈥渂ut of course,鈥� he continues, 鈥渓a cr猫me de la cr猫me has their choice of next steps. If they decide to go to Harvard, I tell them to come back to 平特五不中 when they have money to donate.鈥� This time his smile is wide.

鈥淲hat I know for sure is that this Department would not exist today without the continuing support of donors like Marika Roy. Her generosity and foresight are why I鈥檓 here as Chair. Without that support, we simply could not have come as far as we鈥檝e come in such a short time.鈥�

Watch the video promoting the Department of Bioengineering to new students.

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La bio-ing茅nierie remporte l鈥檕r

Le d茅partement de bio-ing茅nierie a le vent dans les voiles! 脡lu d茅partement de l鈥檃nn茅e par l鈥橢ngineering Undergraduate Society (EUS), son ascension spectaculaire tient pour beaucoup 脿 sa premi猫re place remport茅e au听Grand rassemblement 2023 de l鈥檌GEM l鈥檃n dernier.

Dan Nicolau est directeur et professeur au d茅partement. Depuis son bureau situ茅 au troisi猫me 茅tage du Pavillon de g茅nie McConnell, on entrevoit le Mont-Royal malgr茅 la grisaille. Un soup莽on de sourire se dessine quand il 茅voque la naissance du d茅partement, cr茅茅 en 2012. M. Nicolau y est arriv茅 d茅but 2013, puis au mois d鈥檃o没t cinq professeurs ont rejoint la petite 茅quipe compos茅e de deux enseignants et d鈥檜n membre du personnel. 芦 Nous avions beau savoir que nous avions d鈥檈xcellents professeurs et un excellent programme 禄, explique-t-il, 芦 il a fallu attendre deux ans pour disposer de laboratoires 禄.

Selon Nicolau et la professeure Codruta Ignea, plusieurs ne mesurent pas l鈥檃mpleur d鈥檜ne victoire 脿 l鈥檌GEM. 芦 Les meilleurs 茅tudiants de la plan猫te y prennent part 禄, explique Mme Ignea. 芦 On parle du plus grand concours international de biologie synth茅tique, avec 400 茅quipes, 400 juges et 4鈥�000 participants. Les 茅quipes concurrentes mettent une ann茅e enti猫re pour franchir les 茅tapes qui les m猫neront au Grand Jamboree 禄.

Travaillant en 茅troite collaboration avec Mme Ignea, les 茅tudiants en bio-ing茅nierie ont form茅 pr猫s de la moiti茅 de l鈥櫭﹒uipe iGEM de 平特五不中. Le groupe s鈥檈st d鈥檃bord class茅 parmi les 10 meilleurs, a ensuite remport茅 la m茅daille d鈥檕r dans la cat茅gorie des 茅tudiants de premier cycle, puis 3 des 4 prix sp茅ciaux pour lesquels il avait 茅t茅 nomm茅.

Dan Nicolau est fier des quelque 160 茅tudiants de premier cycle du d茅partement, qui accueille environ 70 nouveaux 茅l猫ves chaque ann茅e. Il est particuli猫rement fier des 茅l猫ves de premier cycle qui ont repr茅sent茅 平特五不中 脿 Paris l鈥檃n dernier. Il est connu que l鈥檜nit茅 ne finance les frais de transport des 茅tudiants que s鈥檌ls sont tr猫s motiv茅s 脿 se distinguer. 芦 J鈥檃i vite compris que cette 茅quipe 茅tait d茅termin茅e 禄, affirme-t-il, l鈥櫯搃l p茅tillant.

芦 Nous comptons parmi les meilleurs 茅tudiants en bio-ing茅nierie au monde 禄, d茅clare M. Nicolau. 芦 Ceci est d没 en grande partie au fait que nous avons eu la chance de cr茅er notre programme de premier cycle de A 脿 Z. C鈥檈st l鈥檜n des rares 脿 ne pas s鈥櫭猼re calqu茅 sur un autre programme 禄.

Les 茅l猫ves du programme de bio-ing茅nierie de premier cycle 脿 平特五不中 consacrent leur premi猫re ann茅e 脿 茅tudier les sciences naturelles de base, en se concentrant sur la biologie. En deuxi猫me ann茅e, chaque 茅l猫ve poursuit dans la branche qui correspond le mieux 脿 ses talents et 脿 ses aptitudes. Les 茅tudiants p茅n猫trent dans l鈥檜nivers du g茅nie biologique par la porte de la physique, de la chimie, ou des math茅matiques et de l鈥檌nformatique.

Quelle que soit la sp茅cialit茅 choisie, les 茅l猫ves de 平特五不中 disposent d鈥檜ne fondation solide en biologie. D鈥檃utres programmes de bio-ing茅nierie sont moins exigeants, ce qui fait en sorte que les 茅l猫ves de 平特五不中 sont particuli猫rement forts et se d茅marquent.

Le d茅partement, qui compte 12 professeurs et 4 charg茅s de cours, admet chaque ann茅e entre 2 et 4 % des 茅tudiants qui posent leur candidature. Environ 80 茅l猫ves travaillent actuellement sur des projets de recherche de troisi猫me cycle, et au cours de l鈥檃nn茅e universitaire 2022-23, 56 % des 茅l猫ves de premier cycle au d茅partement 茅taient des femmes.

Lors du 20e anniversaire du concours iGEM, l鈥櫭﹒uipe de 平特五不中 a pr茅sent茅 une preuve de concept pour traiter le cancer du pancr茅as, qui tue 500鈥�000 personnes chaque ann茅e.

L鈥檃nn茅e derni猫re, le d茅partement de bio-ing茅nierie a par ailleurs f锚t茅 son 10e anniversaire.

Lorsqu鈥檕n lui demande ce qu鈥檌l envisage pour l鈥檃venir, M. Nicolau rit. 芦 Des laboratoires! Oh, vous voulez dire dans le meilleur des cas. Bien, ce serait formidable d鈥檃voir un b芒timent 脿 nous pour pouvoir y travailler en famille. Notre culture s鈥檈st beaucoup d茅velopp茅e 脿 l鈥檈space de l鈥橴QAM, mais nous sommes dispers茅s ici et l脿 et il serait temps de rassembler notre monde. 禄

芦 Et aussi des professeurs. En ce moment, nous en avons 16, si l鈥檕n compte les charg茅s de cours, mais on sait qu鈥檌l en faudra 24. Le programme de ma卯trise d鈥檜n an sans th猫se en biofabrication attirera 30 脿 50 nouveaux 茅l猫ves par an. Certaines entreprises telles que Moderna 脿 Laval attendent d茅j脿 nos dipl么m茅s 禄, dit-il.

M. Nicolau souhaite retenir le plus d鈥櫭﹖udiants possible pour pr茅server la masse critique d茅velopp茅e au sein du d茅partement. 芦 Bien s没r 禄, poursuit-il, 芦 la cr猫me de la cr猫me est libre de choisir ses chapitres suivants. Ceux qui d茅cident d鈥檃ller 脿 Harvard pourront toujours revenir offrir des dons 脿 平特五不中 禄. Dan Nicolau affiche 脿 pr茅sent un large sourire.

芦 Ce qui est s没r, c鈥檈st que le d茅partement n鈥檈xisterait pas aujourd鈥檋ui sans la contribution constante de personnes telles que Marika Roy. Si je suis ici en tant que directeur, c鈥檈st gr芒ce 脿 sa g茅n茅rosit茅 et 脿 sa clairvoyance. Sans un tel soutien, nous n鈥檃urions jamais pu parcourir autant de chemin en si peu de temps. 禄

顿茅肠辞耻惫谤别锄 la vid茅o de pr茅sentation du d茅partement de bio-ing茅nierie propos茅e aux nouveaux 茅l猫ves.

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