Early Exposure: Biomanufacturing in the University of Texas Freshman Research Initiative

Members: University of Texas, Austin and Austin Community College

Project dates: 2021-2024

This project raised awareness of biomanufacturing job opportunities by introducing students to biomanufacturing during their freshman year of college. Students were exposed to relevant topics, developed needed skills, and built pathways to internships.

Leaders from the Freshman Research Initiative at University of Texas at Austin created two semesters of curriculum in accordance with Texas Biomanufacturing Skills Standards. This experience introduces students to many of the technical and procedural practices of bioindustrial manufacturing. The curricula cover early bioMRL activities, including many basic biotechnology- and biochemistry-based skills that are used to harvest, create, and manufacture bioproducts. Students who participate in the course will learn about biochemistry, biotherapeutics, molecular biology, proteins, and synthetic biology and are introduced to hands-on biofermentation with a 5L bioreactor.

Project leaders also created a list of required technical skills that has been translated into 18+ biotech micro-credentials, which are open to all UT-Austin students. These micro-credentials align with course requirements in the Biochemistry program and the Biotechnology Certification Course at Austin Community College. The technical skills list is available in the Member Portal.

This collaboration between the University of Texas at Austin and Austin Community College integrated new content into existing programming to train 96 students in upstream and downstream biomanufacturing skills. The Freshman Research Initiative model is a well-established model for recruiting and retaining STEM talent (Rodenbusch et al, 2016) and provides opportunities to engage with regional STEM-based businesses.

Members can access the course syllabus, curriculum, and the micro-credentials skills list in the Member Portal. The curriculum includes: