Biotechnology Education Now Covering the Landscape

By Jim Shamp
News and Publications Editor

The Sept. 19 opening of the $70 million, 82,500-square-foot Golden LEAF Biomanufacturing Training & Education Center (BTEC) is far more than another lab-and-office building plunked onto the N.C. State University Centennial Campus.

BTEC symbolizes the fact that North Carolina provides an option for every level of educational attainment in biotechnology – grade school through graduate school, research to manufacturing. Commercial-scale equipment at BTEC provides hands-on training for university and community college students as well as industry employees. The facility also enables research into new biomanufacturing technologies.

BTEC facilityBTEC is shared by NCSU, the Community College BioNetwork program and the BioNetwork Capstone Center. It will serve 2,000 students annually when fully operational, offering a new biomanufacturing sciences minor, a new degree program in bioprocessing sciences, and a new degree in biomanufacturing sciences within chemical and biomolecular engineering majors.

The Capstone Center offers a range of industry-specific short courses for community college biotech students and incumbent workers. The BioNetwork Bus, a mobile laboratory staffed by a Capstone Center Instructor who offers biotechnology training at industry sites, also calls BTEC home when not on the road.

Since BioNetwork’s inception, more than 4,700 students have received biotech training made possible either directly or indirectly by $17.9 million in BioNetwork funding. Collectively, these students have entered or re-entered the workforce earning an estimated average of $13,246 more per year.

BTEC also collaborates with the Biotechnology Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE) at N.C. Central University in Durham. BRITE will open a 52,000-square-foot laboratory and classroom building in February for new undergraduate and graduate degree programs in pharmaceutical science.

A Coordinated Effort

BTEC, BRITE and BioNetwork are part of an educational partnership to meet the workforce needs of the state’s life sciences industry. This partnership, the Biomanufacturing and Pharmaceutical Training Consortium (BPTC), also includes the University of North Carolina System, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, Golden LEAF, the North Carolina Biosciences Organization and NCBIO's Biotech Manufacturers Forum.

Our future in biotechnology is intertwined with our commitment to education. The independent, non-profit Biotechnology Center and its Education and Training Program help North Carolina schools, colleges and universities educate citizens about biotechnology careers. The approach grows the work force needed to attract and expand biotechnology companies. It was also cited by Merck and Novartis as a factor in locating their manufacturing plants here.

Biotechnology Center staff specialists serve as a central resource for educators incorporating biotechnology into their classrooms. The Education and Training Program provides curriculum development advice, educational project grants, and publications on biotechnology and related careers.

Training Teachers to Train Students

Teacher Examines Petri Dish.
A teacher examines a petri dish at a 2007 summer workshop at Meredith College. With support from the Biotechnology Center, middle school and high school teachers across the state can bring hands-on science into their classrooms at minimal cost. For example, since 1988, nearly 1,400 teachers have participated in summer workshops designed to provide educators with content, lab protocols, and teaching tips in the science and applications of biotechnology.

Participants use a nationally recognized text written by the Biotechnology Center’s staff specialists. After completing a workshop, a teacher qualifies for free lab supplies and equipment loans. The Biotechnology Center’s educational video collection is also available to all North Carolina teachers, and Education Mini-Grants of up to $6,000 help start K-12 teachers toward equipping their own labs.

In addition to the Mini-Grants program, the Biotechnology Center also provides Education Enhancement Grants of up to $100,000 to outstanding educators at any level, from grade school to graduate school. These grants can fund course and curriculum development, production of teaching materials, and equipment for teaching labs.

Planning for the Future

Last year, the Biotechnology Center staff issued a new career information publication for the Department of Public Instruction. Career Pathways: Focus on Biotechnology has been distributed to schools and community colleges statewide.

Biotechnology Center staff specialists have also outlined a new introductory course in biotechnology for high school students in the Career-Technical Education curriculum. They have also consulted with state education leaders to include biotechnology in the Standard Course of Study (the state-mandated curriculum) for high school biology.

Studying biotechnology industry trends and their effect on employment needs has always been a key role for the Education and Training staff. The aim is to give educators useful information for course and curriculum planning. The study Window on the Workplace 2003 focused on bioprocess and pharmaceutical manufacturing employment needs and an update of that survey is under way.

These kinds of studies highlighted the need for better ways to recruit and train the technicians who work in biotechnology manufacturing. Collaborating with experts from industry and the state’s Community College System, the staff designed and wrote the BioWork course – now the standard in the state’s community colleges for entry-level process technician training.

Biotechnology Industry Benefits All

The biotechnology tool kit of molecules tweaked for beneficial uses is now used by virtually every major industry in the state – from agriculture to medicine.

That's why it's important to understand that biotechnology isn’t only a career option for people with bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. Biotech jobs do, however, require skills that can be honed in the growing number of educational programs here – and statewide.

As textile plants crumble and furniture-making jobs scurry overseas, North Carolina's bioscience employment is increasing, and helping to fill the gap. The state is intent on attracting new biotechnology companies, training the work force, strengthening business partnerships with universities, community colleges and government, and improving statewide K-12 math and science education.

For more information about the North Carolina Biomanufacturing and Pharmaceutical Training Consortium, contact:

Contact Jim Shamp at 919-549-8889.