Course Detail

Many students are justifiably excited about potential careers in pharmaceutical biotechnology. However, many of these students have the mistaken impression that the majority of job opportunities, as well as most of the excitement, are in the drug discovery and exploratory research areas. Graduates in molecular biology, bioengineering, and many other fields can potentially take advantage of many exciting and lucrative career opportunities in biotechnology development, manufacturing, commercial operations, business development, licensing, and investment fund management. To access such opportunities quickly and successfully, it is enormously valuable to understand the basic principles of bioprocess engineering. Furthermore, a basic background in bioprocess engineering can be applied not only to a career in pharmaceutical biotechnology, but also to many other areas of biotechnology, such as biofuels. Bioprocess engineering is one the oldest and most successful professions. Success in large-scale recombinant protein manufacturing is a recent manifestation of a long and glorious history. Bioprocess engineering was and often still is a major skill set among those called brewer, winemaker, or in ancient times, wizard or sorcerer. The ability to successfully employ “the magic” of fermentation enriches ones life, no matter one’s profession. The primary goal of this course is to teach the principles of bioprocess engineering in a way that is accessible to biological scientists, bioengineers, and others who have little or no background in chemical engineering. Another goal is for students to gain some first hand experience and appreciation for the field, through case studies, plant tours, and “fun in the fermentation lab” exercises.

Textbooks: Bioprocess Engineering Principles,, by Pauline M. Doran, Elsevier Academic Press, 1995. (reprinted various years through at least 2004)

Course Schedule

Introductory lectures and lab exercise
          Bioprocess development and engineering; fun in the fermentation lab
          Case studies in bioprocessing, from fermented beverages to recombinant proteins
          Presentation and analysis of engineering data

Material balances and resource planning
          Material balances and dynamic analysis
          Electronic resource planning and raw material sourcing
          Process flow diagrams

Midterm exam

Bioprocessing plant tour

Bioprocess engineering
          Fluid flow and mixing
          Mass transfer Unit operations
          Biochemical reaction kinetics
          Cell growth and metabolism
          Heterogeneous reactions in bioprocessing
          Bioreactor analysis and design

Final exam

In completing this course students gain

• an understanding of the successful, interdisciplinary approach to bioprocessing, involving both biological scientists and engineers
• knowledge of classic case bioprocessing studies and historical developments
• the ability to employ engineering calculations and an engineering approach to the analysis and presentation of data
• the ability to employ steady-state material balances and an understanding of how one can approach dynamic analyses
• an understanding of electronic resource planning and an appreciation of the many practical and business issues concerning raw material sourcing
• a basic understanding of process flow diagrams and their many uses
• a basic understanding, as well as a basic ability to employ, certain fundamental concepts of bioprocess engineering in the areas of fluid mechanics, mass transfer, unit operations, biochemical reaction kinetics, cell growth and metabolism, heterogeneous reactions, and bioreactor analysis and design.

Problem sets:                           33.33%
Mid-term exam:                        33.33%
Final exam:                                33.34%