About

Hello, my name is Aaron; I am a student at the University of Warwick. I study a combination of computer science, biomedical and systems engineering, and molecular and systems biology.

My main interests lie in synthetic/engineering biology, in the application of computational and engineering methods to biomedical and clinical sciences.

Engineering biology is a field I have been passionate about since very early on in my life—I was first exposed to genetic engineering in year 8 (2018), with the release of Justin Atkin’s presentation of his DIY lactose intolerance gene therapy, and subsequent spider silk-producing yeast. This encouraged me to engage in various DIY biologist and engineering communities, and inspired both my A-level choices (Biology, Chemistry, CompSci, Maths) and choice of degree.

I actively engage in interdisciplinary research projects, having participated in iGEM 2024 as a computational biologist to engineer a bacterial system for lanthanide transport, as well as smaller projects such as applying machine learning to butterfly wing image segmentation and analysis.

I am currently working on a group research project for the use of genomic sequencing data in optimal control of immunotherapy.

Skills

For software engineering, I am proficient in a variety of general purpose programming languages, including C, Java, Julia, MATLAB, Scheme/Lisp, and Python. I develop mainly on Linux, and have extensive experience in Unix-like system/server maintenance and administration. I am familiar with modern methodologies such as AGILE and scrum.

Of these, I have used Julia, MATLAB, and Java for mathematical and computational systems modelling for biological systems, involving a range of methodologies including ODE-based modelling and agent-based modelling.

Closer to the hardware, I am proficient in Verilog for FPGA programmable logic design. For electronics/robotics, I have used Raspberry Pi SBCs and Arduinos in a number of personal projects—such as 3D-printed animatronic puppets and automatons—and often hack together electronic systems for the odd problem life throws in my way. In my first year of university for example, I constructed a door-activated alarm system to stop myself from leaving my key inside my room. I was promptly made to take it down due to its resemblance to a bomb.

I also have some small experience in the wet lab, having skills in pipetting, PCR, gel electrophoresis, plasmid preparation, and other such basic microbiology techniques.

Awards

Gold medal—iGEM:  I was a member of the 2024 Warwick iGEM team BEACON, where we engineered bacteria to transport rare earth metals through a solution for recycling. Our project included a range of dry lab, wet lab, and human practices work, for which we were awarded a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Jamboree. I wrote up my experiences of the project here.

Award for Computer Science—Gravesend Grammar School:  During my time in Sixth Form, I was awarded the Kuldeep Singh Cheema trophy for Computer Science. In part, this was due to having achieved a perfect score in my final year software engineering project—the first to have ever been achieved in the school.

Hobbies

In my spare time I enjoy reading, hiking, baking, tennis, badminton, art, and chess.

Contact

Feel free to contact me as you like:
Email: Aaron {at} aaronklee.com
Signal: @Aaron.255