Cornell SensTech

A newly created organization that is aimed to compete in the international SensUs competition.

About SensTech

SensTech is a registered club at Cornell University and we plan to register for project team status in Spring 2024. SensTech is a participant in an international competition called SensUs, where teams from across the globe compete in the Netherlands to create the most cost-effective, user-friendly, and sensitive biosensor that can be used outside a lab.

We believe that we can provide an invaluable opportunity for students to explore biosensors, train as engineers and scientists for the real world, and enter the biosensing field for the first time

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Meet The Founders

What were the driving factors and motivations that led to Senstech?

When Puloma first brought up SensUs to us, I immediately became intrigued about the prospect of starting a team and joining this competition. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to innovate and create something impactful in the medical world and possibly all of society. I also liked the idea of meeting other passionate teams from all over the world and sharing this experience of researching and prototyping a novel biosensor each year. SensUs is more than just a competition; it's a place for growth, collaboration, and applying what we learn as undergraduates into something bigger and meaningful. I'm looking forward to working hard with the team and watching our ideas come to life!

Lily Blanton

Founder & President

Biotechnology and medical devices is a field that I have always been interested in and wanted to explore more so when we learned of the SensUs competition, the co-founders and I were very excited to bring it this opportunity to the Cornell community. Through this research team, I have been able to further develop my leadership skills and utilize wet lab techniques I have learned from previous experiences. This organization functions similarly to a startup and I really love the tight knit community of the team. We are working towards the goal of competing at the 2024 August competition in the Netherlands and I am very proud of all the progress we have made overall!

Emily Chen

Founder & Vice President

When Puloma first came to us with the idea of starting a team to participate in the SensUs competition, I never would have imagined our progress this far. The idea of founding SensTech excited me because it was a unique opportunity to work on something I'm passionate about. Biosensors play a crucial role in the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases, yet they are underutilized. I'm proud to be a part of a team that has the ability to make a difference in this field, and to make biosensors more accessible to all patients.

Isabel Hettenbach

Founder & Co-Wet Lab Lead

The founders and I have known each other since freshman year. After experiencing the ups and downs of college together, we knew that we could count on each other to create a unique team at Cornell. When we heard about the SensUs competition, we saw a chance for us to start a new community on campus, challenge ourselves, and potentially make an impact on patients in the future. Personally, nothing has been more fulfilling in college than to work this hard starting a mission with Lily, Emily, and Isabel, and actually see it come to life because of the amazing members who have helped grow this team.

Puloma Bishnu

Founder & Co-Wet Lab Lead

Subteams

The team structure consists of four subteams managed by leads.

Wet Lab

The Wet Lab subteam works in the lab to design and experiment on various ideas that could be used in the biosensor, for example, the biorecognition element. The design should be user-centric, able to recognize the analyte within a given medium in a timely manner, and have the potential to be used in a real-world setting. This subteam will work directly with graduate students and the team's advisors.

Dry Lab

The Dry Lab subteam focuses on the prototyping, data analysis, fabrication, material design, and other technical aspects of the biosensor. Dry Lab will utilize Wet Lab's results and incorporate it into a physical prototype as the end result. This subteam will work directly with graduate students and the team's advisors as well as collaboration and development with the Wet Lab subteam.

Business

The Business subteam is responsible for funding through company sponsorships, external grants, Cornell University's club funding. They also manage the team finances and spending. This subteam creates pitch decks, cost-benefit analyses, continuously sources new ways to fund the team's research and trips, and creates a business model for the year's project.

Public Relations

Public Relations subteam manages social media and the website, as well as promotional materials and campaigns like posters, and quarter cards. The PR subteam also finds opportunities to increase the exposure of the team like finding conferences, speaking engagements, and volunteer opportunities. This team will also work on fundraising for the team on campus.

Meet The Team