BLINN INVITES STUDENTS TO EXPLORE CAREERS IN THERAPEUTICS MANUFACTURING

  

Steven Bravo was crushed.

Just one year away from earning his bachelor’s degree in engineering technology at Texas A&M University, Bravo learned he would not be receiving financial aid to cover his senior year of college. As a financially independent student, he realized he would have to find a more affordable educational option.

“It was a stressful and uncertain moment in my life,” Bravo said. “I was planning on a career in engineering and was stranded without the finances.”

Bravo came to Blinn to explore additional opportunities. He was sitting in the Advising Office when a glimmer of hope appeared on a shelf of pamphlets. He took the Therapeutics Manufacturing Program pamphlet to an advisor, who provided details about the program—a perfect fit that would quickly prepare him for a science career with competitive pay to fund the final year of his bachelor’s degree.

Bravo learned that the program offers a 69-hour Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree, a 33-hour Level II Certificate and 16-hour Advanced Technical Certificate. The program equips students with enhanced training in current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), quality assurance control, biomanufacturing processes and cell culturing necessary for pharmaceutical production.  Graduates are eligible for entry-level positions with competitive salaries in the growing Texas biomanufacturing industry.

“Everything I had studied before was non-alive, non-organic,” Bravo said. “I quickly learned that I could take what I was learning in engineering and apply it to biological projects, like manufacturing vaccines.”

Bravo said a number of therapeutics manufacturing courses, including Introduction to Biotechnology (BITC 1411), introduced him to the world of biological manufacturing and therapeutics products.

“There was a practical application tied to everything we learned,” Bravo said. “You could see the real-world uses for what we were learning in class.”

In addition to Introduction to Biotechnology, Blinn invites students to enroll in its Principles of Biochemistry (BITC 1303) and its Special Topics (BITC 1191) courses.

Principles of Biochemistry acquaints students with the structure, function and cellular metabolism of various biomolecules, knowledge that is directly applicable to analysis and processing of biomolecules in biopharmaceuticals, biodiagnostics, fermentation and bio-manufacturing.

The Special Topics course features lectures and question-and-answer sessions led by professionals from local and statewide biotechnology companies, including College Station’s FUJIFILM.

“If someone has an interest in biology, this program is perfect for them,” Program Coordinator Michael Johanson said. “Many biotech companies have career paths you can follow to become quite successful, and we get students in the door by giving them the skills these companies are looking for.”

Bravo plans to blend the skills he learned from Blinn’s Therapeutics Manufacturing Program with the knowledge from his engineering bachelor’s degree to land a job as a validation engineer of equipment at a biotech company.

“Blinn’s program offers a great opportunity for students to be a part of the growing biotech industry here in the Brazos Valley,” Bravo said. “It’s developing students with very specific and useful skills that can transfer almost anywhere.”