10th Annual Community College Program Day

7:30am to 8:00am
BREAKFAST

8:00am to 8:30am
OPENING REMARKS: Sonia Wallman, Organizing Committee

8:30am to 10:15am

Industry Panel: Developing Successful Industry - Community College Partnerships

Moderator: Deborah Sullivan-Davis, Bluegrass Community College, Lexington, KY

Bioscience industry representatives from around the country will address how their partnerships with community and technical colleges have generated opportunities for students to find bioscience jobs, which typically were reserved for educational talent with BS, MS, or even PhD degrees. Responding to the changing face of America's workforce, these partnerships are critical to ensure employers have the skilled workforce they need now and in the future.

10:15am to 10:30am
BREAK

10:30am to 12:00pm
Leveraging Federal Funding to Build Stronger Bioscience Programs: "The TAA Community College Consortium for Bioscience Credentials"

Moderator: Russ Read, CCCBC, TAA, Project Leader Forsyth Technical Community College, Winston-Salem, NC

This session will discuss a unique partnership between the NSF National Center Bio-Link, The National Center for the Biotechnology Workforce(NC BioNetwork), NBC² (The NSF ATE Biomanufacturing Center and Collaborative), 12 community college partners and the US Department Labor's Trade Adjustment Assistance Program and its work on Bioscience National Skill Standards and Credentials.

Session panelists:

Russ H. Read has worked in the bioscience industry for over thirty five years. Formerly he was an executive with the Burroughs Wellcome and Glaxo Wellcome companies. He was heavily involved with the commercial development of antivirals like AZT and 3TC which are mainstay treatments for HIV illness. Russ has a special interest in the bioscience workforce. He was CEO of the Kucera Pharmaceutical Company- a start- up biopharmaceutical company based in Winston-Salem. He has recently led a national biotechnology workforce effort for eight years called the National Center for the Biotechnology Workforce (NCBW). The NCBW is based in Winston-Salem and was originally a large US DOL grant but is now a part of NC's BioNetwork. The NCBW focuses on achieving best practices for bioscience workforce training with its national partners, such as the US DOL and the NSF. Its most recent partner is The Manufacturing Institute based in Washington, D.C. In October 2012, a twelve member national consortium of community colleges, led by Forsyth Tech, won a $15 million US DOL Trade Adjustment Assistance grant looking at building biosciences workforce skill standards and credentials. Russ is the consortium's Project Director. Russ is also a trained biologist, educator and executive.

Sengyong Lee, Hub Director- Medical Devices

Dr. Sengyong Lee is at the heart of the life sciences program at Ivy Tech Community College's Bloomington campus. Lee developed the curriculum for the new associate's degree program in biotechnology, established a degree-transfer program agreement with Indiana University, hired faculty, established a partnership with biotech companies, including Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co., Illinois-based Baxter International Inc. and Bloomington-based Cook Group Inc., and made a number of the design and purchase decisions for the facility. He received his Ph.D. in molecular biology from Miami University and worked with Dr. J. Jose Bonner at Indiana University for his postdoctoral research fellowship. In both 2005 and 2007, he received the Chancellor's Apple Award for Outstanding Faculty Member at Ivy Tech. He is the executive director of the Bioscience Educators Alliance of the Midwest. Sengyong will lead the Medical Devices Hub of the CCCBC TAA.

Elaine Johnson, Hub Director- Lab Skills

Dr. Elaine Johnson is the Executive Director of Bio-Link National Center(NSF-ATE) and PI. Dr. Johnson has actively and extensively worked with biotechnology educators and students throughout the United States to create a strong community and build connections between industry and educators. Elaine's work with Bio-link recognized throughout the US. She is based at City College of San Francisco. Elaine will lead the Lab Skills Hub of the CCCBC TAA.

Sonia Wallman, Hub Director- Biomanufacturing

Dr Sonia Wallman holds a PhD in Biology from Harvard University. Since 1994, when she started a biotechnology technician-training program at the New Hampshire Community Technical College, she has been involved in biotechnology education and training. To sustain programs that model the industry, Dr. Wallman works with biotech companies nationally. In 1998, she became Northeast Region Director of Bio-Link, a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF ATE) Center for Biotechnology. In 2005 Dr. Wallman became the executive director of NBC2 - a collaborative of educational institutions, biomanufacturers and organizations working together to develop local biomanufacturing education, training, and workforce infrastructures in support of the biotechnology industry. The NBC2 has hubs throughout the nation. In May 2008, NBC2 gathered twenty-two industry partners from nine states along with fourteen education partners from ten states. The group developed a shared vision, mission and goals to help develop a world-class sustainable biomanufacturing workforce. The NBC2 has produced biomanufacturing skill standards, curriculum, conferences, seminars, workshops, internships and apprenticeships. As Executive Director of NBC2 based out of Montgomery Community College, Blue Bell, PA, she will lead the Biomanufacturing Hub of the CCCBC TAA.

Michael Ayers, Hub Director- Learning

Michael V. Ayers graduated from Surry Community College and transferred to Appalachian State University in 1987. In 1989, he earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Appalachian. As an undergraduate, he became intrigued with scorpion ecology. Therefore, he continued his studies in the biology department and completed a master's degree in 1990. As a community college graduate, Michael is keenly aware of the importance of community colleges. Michael has dedicated the last two decades to community college service. He was a biology instructor at Forsyth Technical Community College and Surry Community College from 1990 - 2002. In 2002, he accepted the position of Science Division Chair at Surry Community College. Michael has served as the Dean of Math, Science, and Technologies at Forsyth Technical Community College in the Winston-Salem, NC since the fall of 2010. Michael will lead Learning Hub for the CCCBC TAA.

12:00pm to 1:00pm LUNCH

1:00pm to 2:15pm
Faces of Success: Elaine Johnson, Bio-Link Director

This interactive session features a lively panel of successful industry professionals who recently gained employability skills at community and technical colleges. Individuals share their pathways to rewarding careers in high-skill, high-wage positions in the biotechnology industry thanks to the access and affordability of targeted programs at community and technical colleges.

Elaine Johnson, Hub Director- Lab Skills Dr. Elaine Johnson is the Executive Director of Bio-Link National Center(NSF-ATE) and PI. Dr. Johnson has actively and extensively worked with biotechnology educators and students throughout the United States to create a strong community and build connections between industry and educators. Elaine's work with Bio-link recognized throughout the US. She is based at City College of San Francisco. Elaine will lead the Lab Skills Hub of the CCCBC TAA.

2:15pm to 3:00pm
Featured Keynote Speaker

3:00pm to 3:15pm
BREAK

3:15pm to 4:30pm
Biomanufacturing in the USA: Sonia Wallman, NBC² Director

The maturation of the bioeconomy, now $2B of the US GDP, depends on the hands-on work of technicians trained in Science, Engineering, Math and Technology (STEM). This panel will consider biomanufacturing skill standards, competencies, education and training that help propel the growth and development of the biomanufacturing sector of the biotechnology industry.

Session panelists:

Dr Sonia Wallman holds a PhD in Biology from Harvard University. Since 1994, when she started a biotechnology technician-training program at the New Hampshire Community Technical College, she has been involved in biotechnology education and training. To sustain programs that model the industry, Dr. Wallman works with biotech companies nationally. In 1998, she became Northeast Region Director of Bio-Link, a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF ATE) Center for Biotechnology. In 2005 Dr. Wallman became the executive director of NBC2 - a collaborative of educational institutions, biomanufacturers and organizations working together to develop local biomanufacturing education, training, and workforce infrastructures in support of the biotechnology industry. The NBC2 has hubs throughout the nation. In May 2008, NBC2 gathered twenty-two industry partners from nine states along with fourteen education partners from ten states. The group developed a shared vision, mission and goals to help develop a world-class sustainable biomanufacturing workforce. The NBC2 has produced biomanufacturing skill standards, curriculum, conferences, seminars, workshops, internships and apprenticeships. As Executive Director of NBC2 based out of Montgomery Community College, Blue Bell, PA, she will lead the Biomanufacturing Hub of the CCCBC TAA.

Biomanufacturing Education and Training and the Texas Skill Standards Board (TSSB)

Linnea Fletcher, Austin CC?

Through a Perkins Skills Standards based curriculum development project, ACC has been funded to work with the Texas Skill Standards Board to develop and implement biomanufacturing skill standards so that other Texas community college biotechnology programs will have access to them. Learn how this process is accomplished in Texas.

Linnea Fletcher, Ph.D. is Department Chair of Biotechnology at Austin Community College (ACC) and Co-PI on Bio-Link, an ATE Center of Excellence. She received her B.S. in Biology, B.A. in Chemistry, and M.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California at Irvine, and her Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin. She started the Biotechnology Department 15 years ago at ACC.

What Bioreactor Education and Training Can Reap

Wesley Marner, Applikon

Bioreactor technology is at the heart of almost every bioprocessing endeavor today. Biopharmaceuticals, food processing, beverages, biofuels, and biorefining all rely on bioreactors for production. Despite all the diversity of products generated in bioreactors, many of the same fundamental concepts underlie operation and experimental use of these bioreactors. Applikon provides bioreactor technology at scales ranging from 1 mL to thousands of liters, and we interact with users with a diverse range of educational backgrounds and responsibilities. In this panel, we will provide our perspective on the opportunities available to anyone with training on use of these systems.

Wesley D. Marner II, Ph.D., is the Manager of Small-Scale Technologies with Applikon Biotechnology Inc. and specializes in bioreactor model development and small-scale technologies. Marner is a chemical engineer with doctoral and bachelor's degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and Virginia Tech, respectively. With a background in metabolic engineering and bioprocess characterization, he focuses his efforts on the use of small-scale technologies for improved bioprocess scale-down, robust cell line development, improved screening, and faster process development.

The NC State Biomanufacturing Capstone Center

Ana McClanahan, NC State

4:30pm to 5:00pm
DISCUSSION