The NBC2: Growing a Regional and National Bioeconomy, One Locale at a Time

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Biomanufacturing is one of the few manufacturing industries that continues to expand in spite of downturns in the national and global economy. Biopharmaceuticals and biofuels are among the bioproducts manufactured in cellular factories in this new, advanced technology, STEM-rich industry. This project continues the center activities in order to continue to encourage the creation of additional biomanufacturing programs throughout the nation to support a growing biopharmaceutical, biofuels, regenerative medicine, and bioproducts industry, that is, the bioeconomy. In addition, it expands the NBC2 curricular materials, adding additional biofuels and new stem cell hands-on laboratories, virtual industrial biomanufacturing production modules in partnership with the world's largest contract biomanufacturer, and an online lecture series to be used to accompany hands-on laboratories in biomanufacturing courses. The project also is experimenting with flexible packaging of NBC2 curricular modules to allow customization of courses for various audiences (high school, community college, university, student graduates and incumbent workers) and time frames. It is building a "Course in a Box" for many modules in order to provide access to the materials and supplies needed to teach each module. Public understanding of biomanufacturing career paths is enhanced through the expansion of a career website at www.biomanufacturingcareers.org. The NBC2 is working to offer a National Association of Manufacturing-endorsed biomanufacturing technician certification. The project is documenting and publicizing details about career paths of students using web-based data analysis that tracks students and shows trends in industry. The Center expects to apply for non-profit status to sustain the center after NSF ATE funding. The intellectual merit of the project includes: 1) generation of a complete suite of curriculum products using different pedagogical approaches to teach biopharmaceutical, biofuels and other crossover biomanufacturing fields, including hands-on laboratories, textbooks, online lectures with online ancillary support. In addition, the project is developing virtual biomanufacturing equipment and processes to teach, assess and practice troubleshooting; 2) availability of these products in many different formats, including traditional print or online for use by diverse populations of students; 3) a career path that includes high school, community college, biomanufacturing experience, and a career in biomanufacturing; and 4) use of a web-based data analysis tools to track student career paths and show trends in industry. The broader impacts of the proposal include: 1) creation of a national network of self-sustaining local infrastructures for biomanufacturing education and training, and the workforce to support a growing bioeconomy; 2) institutionalization of biomanufacturing education and training courses and programs; 3) continued development of new instructional materials to grow and enhance current offerings; 4) a biomanufacturing certification exam endorsed by the National Association of Manufacturers; 5) data collected on biomanufacturing career paths and the bioeconomy; and 6) formation of a non-profit entity to sell products and services which in time will support NBC2 functions of growing partners, mentoring programs, promoting biomanufacturing career paths, updating curricular offerings, and providing professional development opportunities for students, faculty, teachers and technicians.