Events
“Boot Camp” Prepares Students for Careers In Biotech
Concentrated Training Designed to Help Graduates Get Job
RALEIGH, N.C. (July 19, 2010) - Biotech students and graduates from across North Carolina got vital hands-on experience at a "boot camp" for biomanufacturing. Wake Technical Community College and NCCCS BioNetwork presented the unique, week-long training session in collaboration with NC State University. It took place at the Capstone Center on NC State's Centennial Campus in Raleigh.
Students from eight North Carolina community colleges, including three students from Wake Tech, took advantage of the opportunity. It was open to students completing the second year of an associate's degree in biotechnology and to those who have recently graduated. Over the course of the week, they produced a recombinant DNA product in a simulated manufacturing environment, using full-scale bioreactors. They also learned to work in the Capstone Center's Aseptic Suite, one of only three certified "cleanroom" training facilities in the country.
Bioprocess instructor David Yarley says the experience will help prepare students for positions in the biomanufacturing field. "Industry leaders recognize training at this level as actual work experience," Yarley says. "These students can feel confident that they are ready to meet the challenges of the workplace."
The boot camp was one of three week-long training sessions offered at the Capstone Center this summer. Students from Alamance, Brunswick, Central Carolina, Fayetteville Tech, Johnston, Pitt, Vance Granville and Wake Tech participated. The Capstone Center is operated by Wake Tech and NCCCS BioNetwork.
