ATE Biotechnology Projects

There is a renewed sense of urgency to develop a more diverse workforce in STEM-related fields. This project focuses on community college students from groups that are not yet equitably represented in STEM. These communities have also been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most workforce interventions to prepare students for technical positions have been based on the premise that the students simply need targeted skill training and tips on behavioral norms to be successful in these workplace cultures. This “student deficit” model puts the burden on the newcomer to navigate ... Read more

The overall vision of the Bioscience Emerging Technician project at Atlanta Technical College is to increase the knowledge of emerging bioscience career opportunities among groups historically underserved in STEM in the metropolitan Atlanta area. This three-year project plans to engage dual-enrollment students in unique summer workshops, support an industry speaker’s series, provide tours of biotechnology companies, and develop a first-year experience seminar course. These experiences will be designed to teach students the skills they will need for employment in the field. Students who ... Read more

The biomanufacturing industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. It is also known for its continuous attention to modernizing its facilities and adopting new technologies. Emerging technologies are rapidly changing the landscape of biomanufacturing. As a result, biomanufacturing technicians require new courses and workforce skills to stay current. This project will facilitate development of a learn-by-doing instructional model that combines a traditional, in-person laboratory with virtual experimentation. The project predicts that this blended learning environment, which ... Read more

Texas Southmost student, Juan Silva, teaching students at the 2019 Biotech Summer ​​​camp about ELISAs This project plans to build a Biotechnology Unified Education Network of Opportunities (BUENO) in the Lower Rio Grande Valley that will offer a clear path for undergraduates into careers in biotechnology-based STEM fields. The project includes three major activities: 1) curriculum and educational materials development; 2) professional development for educators; and 3) program development and improvement. The main goal of the BUENO Project is to build the first biotechnology program in the ... Read more

The Madison, Wisconsin, region has a high concentration of jobs in bioscience industries. For example, it ranks fourth in the nation for concentration of pharmaceutical industries. The existing Biotechnology Program at Madison Area Technical College has a 90% job placement rate, but does not produce sufficient graduates to meet regional industry demands. This project will establish a nine-credit Biotechnology Program for liberal arts and undeclared students at Madison Area Technical College. By integrating biotechnology laboratory skills and career development experiences into the general ... Read more

Recent innovations in personalized medicine have spurred rapid growth in the regional biopharmaceutical industry and an increased demand for skilled technicians. Working closely with industry leaders, this project from Frederick Community College will create a specialized curriculum to meet the needs of the regional biotechnology workforce. Over the three-year project, 25 students will gain specialized skills in cell therapy and flow cytometry as part of an associate’s degree, certificate, letter of recognition, or Registered Apprenticeship pathway. The overall enrollment in the Frederick ... Read more

Recent innovations have enabled development of new therapies that reengineer the body’s immune system. These therapies include medical treatments with bioengineered cells (cell therapy) and medical treatments with drugs or other molecules that alter immune system function (immunotherapy). With the rapid development of these therapies, the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry has made major advancements toward curing some of society’s most devastating cancers and diseases. Manufacture of these therapies requires large numbers of skilled biomanufacturing technicians. Yet, due to the relative novelty ... Read more

This project aims to coordinate a network of stakeholders that will promote economic growth through workforce development in Advanced Manufacturing of Cell and Tissue-based Products (CAMCTP). CAMCTP requires a new kind of manufacturing that uses robotics, microfluidics, 3-D printing, computational modeling, and novel types of engineering to construct biologically relevant products composed of living cells in combination with natural or synthetic materials. The field is built upon advances in stem cell biology, genome editing, synthetic biology, computational modeling, micro- and nano- ... Read more

The growth of Texas companies that manufacture biological products on a contract basis has created a local and regional workforce need. This project proposes to serve this growing biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry by developing an advanced biomanufacturing certificate and educating a skilled and diverse biomanufacturing technical workforce. The new certificate will be designed to incorporate interactive and inquiry-based laboratory learning and to provide students with real world experience with biotechnical/biomanufacturing equipment. The project will also implement new strategies for ... Read more

The United States Biotechnology Industry has increasing demand for jobs based on DNA sequencing technology. The U.S. DNA sequencing market is estimated at $2.8 billion dollars for 2020 and on-track to grow to $5 billion by 2027, a compound annual growth rate of 16.6%. Biotechnicians with specialized training to run DNA sequencing instrumentation are needed to fill the jobs in this growing sector. Texas currently has 63 DNA sequencing facilities, 60 of which are located within 250 miles of this workforce education project. To fulfill industry needs for trained technicians in this field, Austin ... Read more

Johnston Community College’s (JCC) Expanding a Multi-skilled STEM Technician Pipeline to Meet Industry Needs “Bio Blend 2.0” seeks to better prepare students to meet biotechnology company hiring needs and to improve employment outcomes for underserved populations, specifically focusing our recruitment of neurodiverse individuals on the autism spectrum. JCC is located one hour south of Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, where the demand for well-trained and diverse biopharma technicians is growing and exceeding the number of technicians currently produced from local and regional ... Read more

The St. Louis region is home to many agricultural technology industries based on plant science research. These include both large companies such as Bayer Crop Sciences (formerly Monsanto) and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and small start-up companies. As basic research in genetics leads to the development of new technologies across these companies, current and future employees must learn new skills. Through this project, to address growing industry education and training needs, St. Louis Community College (STLCC) will develop new courses in targeted genome editing to enhance its ... Read more

An urgent need exists for a highly trained, diverse life sciences research workforce to support the rapidly expanding U.S. biotechnology industry. To address this need, this award will enable Wistar Institute to entirely re-design an existing hands-on, mentored technician training program and expand it to additional community colleges. The project will provide students with research experiences required for employment as technicians in biomedical research. Students will participate in an accelerated, paid summer program that includes pre-apprenticeship training, a hands-on Orientation at ... Read more

Over the past four years more than 30 cell and gene therapy companies have started or become located in Montgomery County, Maryland, making it an emerging center for biopharmaceutical industries. Montgomery College will address the critical workforce needs of this growing industry by increasing the number of work-ready biotechnicians with a focus on cell and gene therapy. The biotechnology program at Montgomery College will add a new Certificate in Cell and Gene therapy with an expected annual enrollment of 20 students by 2025. They will combine this new certificate program with two new micro ... Read more

Centered around an accessible and generally well-loved companion animal, dogs, this project will increase scientific literacy and engagement with science and technology by high school and college students and their teachers. A summer workshop for biology and agriculture teachers will focus on the content and training in laboratory techniques to implement the canine course-based research experience. Canine (K-9) kits containing all the supplies and equipment needed for the activity will be available for teachers to check out and use in their classrooms. To directly connect biotechnology to the ... Read more

The rapidly expanding biomanufacturing industries in eastern North Carolina have a growing need for skilled technicians. For example, over the next eight years, Novo Nordisk plans to invest in a $1.8 billion production facility and to hire 800 employees, approximately 500 of whom will be maintenance and process technicians. In addition, Grifols plans to invest $375 million in production facility upgrades and plans to hire approximately 500 technicians. This project will help meet these workforce needs by blending concepts and skills of applied engineering and biotechnology into two existing ... Read more

This project proposes to provide work-based educational experiences to help prepare community college students for careers in biotechnology. Project partners include Skyline Community College, Laney Community College, regional high school science teachers, and a nonprofit community partner, Bay Area Bioscience Education Community. The project will provide community college students with skills-based job training by involving them in preparation, quality testing, and packaging of low-cost biotechnology materials for use in high school biology courses. Examples of these materials include ... Read more

Immuno-biotechnology is one of the fastest growing disciplines in the field of biotechnology, encompassing two areas that are vital to modern medicine: 1. Developing drug and diagnostic methods that relate to the immune system and 2. Manufacturing therapeutic drugs derived from the immune system (for example, from antibodies). Jobs in immuno-biotechnology require specialized skills that are not typically addressed in college or K12 biotech programs. The gap between evolving industry needs and existing training means that even college graduates and incumbent industry workers must seek ... Read more

Due to rapid growth in the biotechnology industry, the demand for skilled biotechnicians in the Los Angeles region continues to increase. Out of the ~3,200 projected annual openings in biotechnology-related jobs, more than 2,000 require an associate degree or less. The most recent statewide data indicate a massive gap in availability of these trained biotechnicians, with an annual average production in Los Angeles county of only ~50 individuals. The largest demand is for quality control and manufacturing technicians. This project will help fill this demand by providing comprehensive training ... Read more