VGCC and high school students get Bioprocessing Demonstration
An expert on biotechnology manufacturing visited Vance-Granville Community College’s Franklin County Campus in February. Students in the college’s BioWork course and students of Franklin County Early College High School (located on the campus) learned about potential job opportunities and saw a hands-on bioprocessing demonstration from Dr. Greg Smith, curriculum coordinator for the state’s Bioprocessing Center . The center, part of the North Carolina Community College System BioNetwork, is based in Greenville.
Dr. Smith told students about the various career pathways and biomanufacturing industries in North Carolina, the products of which range from wine, pharmaceuticals, laundry detergent, and regenerative medicine to oysters, clams, and Christmas trees. In addition, he demonstrated how to make biodiesel fuel from spent peanut oil, the importance of monitoring air quality in production of therapeutic drugs with a particulate counter, and the purification of dyes from a mixture.
Dr. Smith has worked in the biomanufacturing industry as a manager and leader, served in project and facility management positions, health and safety administration, design and manufacturing, drug discovery, and quality control and quality assurance positions for over ten years.
The students in attendance for Smith’s presentation were from the VGCC Franklin Campus BioWork course taught by JoAnn Burtness and from Sanjana Sharma’s science class at Franklin County Early College High School .
VGCC is a member college of the BioNetwork , a statewide initiative that seeks to increase student access to specialized training, curricula and equipment used in biotechnology. According to the BioNetwork, North Carolina has over 525 bioscience and related companies in the state, employing about 58,000 people. As a state, North Carolina ranks third in the size of its biomanufacturing industry, and has many opportunities for students interested in careers involving the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and life science industries.
VGCC offers a two-year Bioprocess Technology associate degree program and the one-semester BioWork training course. For more information on VGCC biotechnology programs, call Dr. Tara Hamilton at (919) 496-1567.
Above: From left, Franklin County Early College High School students Amy Womble, Markel Dawson (in back row), Kahlia Monroe and Casey Thomason were among those in attendance at the presentation by Dr. Greg Smith (standing). In the picture, Womble is holding the bottle to help in the process of making biodiesel fuels.
