The MEng is an intensive two-year program housed within the Amgen Bioprocessing Center at KGI. The program is designed to train students to become bioprocess engineering professionals employed within the biopharmaceutical industry.

MEng program emphases four things

First Year Highlights

  • Core and pre-requisite courses in the first year are combined to build basic skills in biopharmaceutical processing.
  • Pre-requisite courses are intended to build foundational knowledge in areas that have not been covered in students’ undergraduate degree programs. These foundation courses vary depending on your first degree.
  • Courses combine industry seminars, lectures, presentations, and hands-on projects in the state-of-the art facilities at the Amgen Bioprocessing Center to train students for a career in the biopharmaceutical industries.

Core courses, workshops, and seminars include:

  • Introduction to Bioprocessing and Biopharmaceutical industry
  • Introduction to Cell Culture and Purification Operations
  • Basic Bioprocess Flowsheet
  • Developing a Platform Process for Monoclonal Antibodies
  • Introduction to Drug Formulation and Delivery
  • Molecular Basis of Disease and Biologics Development
  • Molecular Biology & Biotechnology
  • Hands-on individual experiments and projects
  • Team based projects and assignments
  • Quality and CMC Regulatory
  • Cost Analysis
  • Intellectual Property

Foundational (pre-requisite) courses for students with first degrees in sciences include:

  • Basic mathematical techniques for scientists and engineers
  • Introductory to mass, heat and momentum transfer for bioprocess engineers

Foundational (pre-requisite) courses for students with first degrees in engineering include:

  • Introductory courses chemistry
  • Introductory courses in biochemistry

Summer Options

During the summer of the first year, students select to work on one of the following options:

  • Paid Industry Internship – Students will receive considerable help and support from KGI to secure a paid internship which is intended to provide students with a real hands-on experience of working in the biopharmaceutical industry. As part of summer internship assignments, students will give a presentation at KGI and submit a written report on their industry experience.
  • Team Master’s Project (TMP) – Students will have the option of working on a small team over the summer to complete a bioprocess related project sponsored by a company. Project aims, objectives, and deliverables are set up jointly by the company and KGI faculty advisors with the intention to provide students the opportunity to tackle real-life industry challenges and come up with innovative solutions to practical problems while gaining insight of industry practice.
  • Independent Research at Amgen Bioprocessing Center – This option is intended for students who wish to work closely with a faculty member gaining hands-on research experience working on a project related to upstream and downstream unit operations. These projects typically have a strong industry link.

Second Year Highlights

Second year courses are designed to give students “real life” skills and training of working within the biopharmaceutical industries. Students take advanced technical, management, and professional skill development courses that are designed to help graduates succeed within a variety of careers in industry.

Courses include:

  • Principles of Bioprocess Design and Practice
  • Mammalian Cell culture Technology
  • Bioseparation Engineering Science
  • Upstream and Downstream Hands on projects
  • Planning and Management of Research in the Biopharmaceutical Industries
  • Quality Assurance and CMC Regulatory
  • Emerging Therapeutics ( stem cells, gene therapy, tissue engineering)
  • Bioprocess Industry and Entrepreneurialship
  • Bioprocess Industry and Ethics

The second year concludes with the capstone Team Design Project. The equivalent of four normal courses, teams of students will work closely with an industry sponsor and a faculty advisor to create an innovative solution to a bioprocess engineering design challenge.

Advising and Corporate Mentoring

All students will be assigned two advisors to guide their academic and professional career development. The first is an academic advisor from the bioprocessing faculty, who will provide advice and guidance on each student’s academic progress. The second advisor is an industry mentor, typically a bioprocess engineering faculty with considerable industry experience or a professional affiliated with the Amgen Bioprocessing Center. The industry mentor will provide career advice and professional networking guidance.

All students will work with their advisors to create an individual development plan that will help guide students from matriculation at KGI through graduation.