Blogs

If you end up with spare time this summer, or you need a book for an airplane ride, the National Academies Press has published three books of interest to the Bio-Link community. The paperback copies of the books are between 40 and $100, but the PDFs are free. I like to download the PDFs and read them on my iPad in apps like iBooks or iAnnotate, so I can highlight passages and find them later.

Even better, if you make an account at the National Academies Press bookstore, you get to log in to MyNAP (I wonder who came... Read more

The Advanced Technological Education program at the National Science Foundation supports the development of innovative approaches for educating highly skilled technicians in economically-important industries. In 2014, over 114,000 students were enrolled in ATE programs and over 45,830 educators participated in ATE-funded professional development activities.

Learn how the ATE program supports Advanced Manufacturing technologies, Information technology, Micro and Nanotechnology, Security, Engineering, Environmental technologies, and agriculture and biotechnology through 40 ATE centers across the US in the Annual ATE Impact book. Read more

After two years of attending the Worthington Bio Conference, I am convinced it is one of the most enjoyable experiences of my post-teaching career. There are such interesting presentations at this conference and it is truly amazing that such a small town can make such a huge impact on the local economy. Here are some of the highlights of this year’s conference.

Matt Gardner, Founder and CEO of the California Technology Council and former President and Chief Executive of BayBio, was the Lunch Keynote speaker. He spoke about the innovative paths whereby people can get an unconventional education and... Read more

Ever wondered how much a degree might be worth as far as salary is concerned? It matters, I know it does! The sciences can be fascinating and fulfilling but usually there are bills to be paid too. The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s office is making comparative information about the earnings of recent grads available for you to examine at their Salary Surfer website . The office uses the aggregated earnings of graduates to make estimates of potential wages. For more information about the data and their methodology the Chancellor’s office provided documentation ,... Read more

This is our final day on the set where the educational interactive movie: Making the Call: Quality in Biomanufacturing, is being filmed by the amazing film crew from Pellet Productions. This talented group from Pellet is producing hours of professional footage that will be processed and edited into a “choose your own adventure” movie that will prepare students to work in a regulated biomanufacturing environment. The Pellet team, led by executive producer Anthony Manupelli, includes director Bob Roche; camera operators Gilberto Nobrega and Jason York; writer and science editor, David Levin; sound Keith McManus; lighting experts, John Minard and Ricky... Read more

I am new to the Community College Biotech world, and so am learning a lot about its successes and challenges every day. I had a chance (thanks Sandy Porter) to read a great article about increasing diversity in Biotech, and how incorporating research into biotech teaching is so crucial. The article, Setting the Foundation for Success: Undergraduate Research at Community Colleges by R. Deborah Overath, PhD, from Del Mar College, was posted on the SACNAS website over the summer (July 13, to be exact). What, I wondered, was SACNAS ? SACNAS stands for Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics... Read more

One of the challenging aspects of this project is to make sure that it is dramatically interesting and educationally useful at the same time as it is technically correct. The Pellet team relies on expert advisors for this purpose. Here at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Biomanufacturing Education and Training Center, where the production is being filmed, we have BTEC staffers Dan Mardirosian, Kristen Piccard, and Chris Bellerive as advisors. These advisors have years of biomanufacturing industry experience. They consulted with the Pellet team on script development and Dan and/or Chris have been on the set throughout the filming. They have... Read more

A short behind-the-scenes video clip can be seen here. In this clip you will see the director, Bob Roche (green shirt) coaching the actors, actor Ariel Zuckerman explaining the crisis being filmed from his perspective, and Dan Mardirosian explaining the disaster that can occur when there is too much foam in a bioreactor. Read more