140 -FSU iGEM: Building Multidisciplinary Bioengineering Teams, Winning Medals, & Launching Startups

This week’s episode on the InNOLEvation® Mindset Podcast, powered by the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, host, Mark McNees interviews FSU’s iGEM PIs David Montez (Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement) and Cesar Rodriguez (FSU College of Medicine) about iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machines), a global bioengineering competition. They explain how FSU recruits a multidisciplinary cohort each fall for a yearlong experience and organizes 12–15 students into leadership, human practices, and engineering teams, emphasizing teamwork, public engagement, and student-led decision-making. They discuss mentoring through candid feedback, funding from multiple FSU colleges and offices, and the program’s medal history (bronze, no medal, four silvers, three golds), including maintaining participation during the pandemic. Past and current projects include Flowama for citrus greening and Esperance Healthcare, advancing an engineered bacteria solution for fish odor syndrome, now in an accelerator in Vienna, plus Beagle Bioworks on microplastics. 00:00 Welcome and Guests 00:40 Undergrad Research at FSU 01:34 What iGEM Is 02:10 Cesar’s Origin Story 04:00 Multidisciplinary Team Model 05:51 Team Structure and Mission 08:25 Recruiting and Evaluating Students 11:58 Funding and Paris Trip 14:41 Early Years and Medal Journey 19:19 Mentorship and Candid Feedback 23:55 Success Story Flowama 28:03 Pandemic and Program Resilience 29:22 Esperance Healthcare Startup 34:39 Anniversary Plans and Thanks 36:32 Closing and Subscribe