Biomanufacturers are building and expanding throughout the nation. The resulting commercial biomanufacturing facilities hire between 400 and 600 employees, at least fifty percent of whom are technicians in ten biomanufacturing jobs; the industry reports a ten to fifteen percent attrition rate per year. Community college-biomanufacturer partnerships create a stable, local supply of entry level and replacement technicians and an articulated career pathway that begins in high school, continues to community college and then to university, with opportunities for apprenticeships, internships and employment. The partnership can also provide for incumbent technician training for the biomanufacturer at the neighboring community college that can sustain both the biomanufacturer and the biomanufacturing program. Finally, related crossover industries that use the same skill set have developed in the last few years including the biomanufacture of biofuels, replacement organs, and stem cells. Working together, community college-biomanufacturer partnerships provide support for a local bioeconomy.
The NBC2 has been working for over three years to develop the local biomanufacturing education and training and workforce infrastructure in six Hubs throughout the northeast. The center has developed hands-on instructional materials for the ten biomanufacturing jobs based on global biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry skill standards. It has developed BIOMAN, an annual biomanufacturing conference for faculty and teacher participants. There is a website at www.biomanufacturing.org for dissemination of activities and products. The center has mentored the establishment of biomanufacturing programs and courses at community colleges, high schools and universities in the northeast and nation. Its relationships with biomanufacturers can sustain the biomanufacturing programs that have been built.
In this renewal of the NBC2, the center is taking curriculum and instructional materials for the ten biomanufacturing jobs to the next level, by creating a hands-on laboratory manual, an industry-written textbook, short courses for incumbent technicians, and instructional ancillaries. It continues to expand the website, adding a career website, and continues to offer the BIOMAN conference. It is aggressively building local biomanufacturing infrastructure by focusing on high school students through Introduction to Biomanufacturing teachers' workshops in a partnership with Bio-Rad, and incumbent technician training through short courses offered by the NBC2's National Biomanufacturing Institute (NBI). The center is bringing in new resources by expanding partnerships to include biomanufacturers and community colleges throughout the nation in southern, mid-western and western clusters directed by community college faculty with expertise in biopharmaceutical biomanufacturing. Through a partnership with the National Institute for Work and Learning of the Academy for Educational Development it is collecting employment data to show the influence of the activities.
Intellectual merit: This includes: 1) the development of local learning communities to support the biopharmaceutical manufacturing company's need for biomanufacturing technicians and the student's need for a biomanufacturing educational pathway from high school to community college to universities; 2) a Global Biomanufacturing Curriculum repository based on harmonized biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry skill standards ready for deposit or withdrawal and linked to the Bio-Link Clearinghouse; 3) the use of video, 2nd Life, and gaming technologies to give students a better understanding of large-scale biomanufacturing; 4) the use of skills in biopharmaceutical manufacturing to support the development of local crossover industries such as the biomanufacture of replacement organs, biofuels and stem cells; 5) data on the expansion of biomanufacturing programs, the number of students in these programs and the growth of jobs within the bio-based economy.
Broader impact: This includes: 1) creation of strong biomanufacturer-community college partnerships to provide sustainability for the community college program and a local pipeline of employees for the biomanufacturer; 2) emphasis on high school biomanufacturing courses and programs to develop the local pipeline for biomanufacturing; 3) use of new technologies to highlight the differences between large-scale and lab-scale biomanufacturing; 4) on-the-job training for students in 21st century advanced technology apprenticeships and internships; and 5) the creation of a self-sustaining infrastructure for biomanufacturing education and training and the biomanufacturing workforce that supports a growing bioeconomy.
NBC2 Project Outcomes 2009-2013 The Northeast Biomanufacturing Center and Collaborative (NBC2) based at Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) in Blue Bell, PA consists of seven hubs. Each of these hubs develops a cluster of local biomanufacturers, educational institutions, and organizations to prepare an advanced technological workforce to support a rapidly growing biomanufacturing industry and a vibrant bioeconomy, including: BigPharma hub at MCCC; New England hub at Minuteman Regional Technical High School in Lexington, MA; Upstate New York hub at Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua, NY BioCapitol hub at the Community College of Baltimore County in Catonsville, MD; Southern hub at Alamance Community College in Graham, NC; Midwest hub at Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington, IN; Western alliance hub at Miracosta College in Oceanside, CA. Major Accomplishments Partnerships At the end of 2012, there were 64 educational institutions providing biomanufacturing education and training. NBC2 mentors many biotechnology programs that are adding biomanufacturing due to the maturation of the bioeconomy in their locales, including: Mount Wachusetts Community College, MA Quincy College,MA Quinsigamond Community College, MA BluegrassCommunity College AustinCommunity College, KY Hudson Valley Community College, NY Hagerstown Community College, MD Onondaga Community College, NY San Jacinto College, CA Roxbury Community College, MA Erie Community College, NY Portland Community College, OR Salt Lake City Community College, UT Blinn College, Bryant, TX NCTM, Texas A&M, College Station, TX NBC2 has developed many partnerships with community college programs, the biomanufacturing industry and industry organizations throughout the nation. Collaboration with nine biomanufacturing companies resulted in the development of the first Introduction to Biomanufacturing textbook written by industry subject matter experts, edited by NBC2 and released in December 2012. In addition, collaborations with industry partner Lonza Biopharmaceuticals has allowed the development of a virtual upstream processing industrial biopharmaceutical manufacturing learning module. Other collaborations with industry include the development of curriculum for the crossover industries of biofuels and regenerative medicine. NBC2 learning materials, information on current biomanufacturing practices and NBC2 event information can be accessed at www.biomanufacturing.org. In addition at www.biomanonline.org high school teachers can access workshop materials for later use in the classroom. Curriculum/Publications Published industry authored Introduction to Biomanufacturing textbook, November 2012 Upstream Processing virtual training module developed in collaboration with ATe-Learning and Lonza Biopharmaceuticals. www.atelearning.com/BioTestbed/new_upstream Chapter 7: Secondary/Postsecondary Programs of Study for Biomanufacturing Technicians by Sonia Wallman in ‘Career Pathways for STEM Technicians,edited by Dan Hull, July 2012 Article ‘Protein is Cash: Advanced Technology Education for STEM Career Paths in Biomanufacturing’ by Sonia Wallman in NCPN Connections 21-7, 2011 Biomanufacturing Education and Training for High Schools, Community Colleges and Industry by Margaret Bryans, Sonia Wallman and Linda Rehfuss, August 31, 2013 Professional Development Offerings for Faculty and Teachers Served 533 Educators: Coordinated the annual Community College Program at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) International meeting Chicago, IL, 2010; in Washington, DC, 2011; and in Boston, MA, 2012 (141 registrants). Offered BIOMAN, the annual NBC2 Professional Development Conference for Faculty, Technicians and Teachers at Ivy Tech in Bloomington, IN, 2010; at MiraCosta College, Oceanside, CA, 2011; at Alamance Community College, Graham, NC, 2012 (191 faculty, technicians and teachers). Sponsored and coordinated a Biomanufacturing Boot Camp at the North Carolina State University’s BTEC Center July 2012 serving 12 biotechnology/biomanufacturing faculty Hosted 15 ‘Protein is Cash’ Biomanufacturing Workshops serving 189 High School teachers (and thereby serving approximately 18,900 high school students): - University of Rhode Island, Providence, RI, March/April 2010 - Hudson Valley Community College, Troy, NY, March 2010 - Minuteman Technical High School, Lexington, MA, April 2010 - Hillsborough Community College, Brandon, FL, March 2010 - Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ, June 2010 - Hillsborough Community College, Brandon, FL, March 2011 - Hudson Valley Community College, Troy, NY, March 2011 - Middlesex Community College, Edison, NJ, June 2011 - Bluegrass Community College, Lexington, KY, July 2011 - Middlesex Community College, Lowell, MA, August 2011 - Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, PA, June 2012 - Los Angeles Trade Technical College, Los Angeles, CA, June 2012 - Middlesex Community College, Lowell, MA, August 2012 - Middlesex Community College, Edison, NJ, August 2012 - Austin Community College, Austin, TX, August 2012 Professional Development Offerings for Students Hosted Biomanufacturing Career Fairs for students with Great Bay Community College, Portsmouth, NH, 2010 and 2011 and with Mount Wachusetts Community College, Devens, MA, 2013. Hosted 2, week-long biomanufacturing summer camps for 32 local high school students at Montgomery County Community College with advanced hands-on lab activities and local industry tour and speakers. The NBC2 BIOMAN Jobs group on LinkedIn was developed where biomanufacturing job openings are highlighted; the annual BIOMAN Journal and the CCP Report has been produced and distributed. The NBC2 continued to develop avenues to a self-sufficient approach to biomanufacturing education and training. These included the development of marketable curricular materials and plans to develop of a certification for graduates of biotechnology/biomanufacturing programs.
