With hundreds of jobs open in biomanufacturing firms across the region, people interested in working in the biotech industry are invited to Worcester Polytechnic Institute's (WPI) Gateway Park on Friday, Jan. 21, 2011, for an open house information session on the university's Fundamentals of Biomanufacturing certificate program. The open house will run from 2 to 4 p.m. at the WPI Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center, 60 Prescott Street, in Worcester.
"This program is designed for people who want to work in the biotech sector, but don't necessarily have previous experience in the life sciences," said Rachel Yamartino, associate director of WPI’s Corporate and Professional Education Division (CPE). "It's a program that is ideal for people who want to enter the field from other industries, or even right out of high school."
WPI created the program in partnership with Abbott Laboratories, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Shire Human Genetic Therapies, and other life sciences companies to make sure the curriculum gives students the specific knowledge and hands-on experience they will need to make the transition into biomanufacturing.
Working with WPI faculty members, instructors who are also hiring managers in the biomanufacturing field will teach the program. During the eight-week night program, students will learn—and work on—all the processes involved in full-scale biomanufacturing, including elements of fermentation, media preparation, centrifugation, buffer preparation, purification, and aseptic processing in a biosafety cabinet. Students will also learn the rigors of working under the "current Good Manufacturing Practices" (cGMP) set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that regulate production of medicine.
At the open house, attendees will get an overview of the program, tour WPI's Bioprocess Center, meet some of the instructors, and hear from students who have graduated from the program and gone on to careers in biomanufacturing.
The event is free and open to the public. Those wishing to attend the open house should RSVP to Amanda Maurer Keighly by calling 508-831-4179 or emailing maurer@wpi.edu.
The next full session of the Fundamentals of Biomanufacturing program will begin at WPI on March 7. A summer session, which will be open to recent high school graduates, is also planned.
