U of T Engineering has partnered with CCRM, BioZone and the School of Continuing Studies on a new set of microcredentials that will help workers across Canada’s biomanufacturing industry to upgrade or strengthen their skills.
Biomanufacturing refers to the industrial-scale production of many different products, including pharmaceuticals, vaccines, emerging products such as cell and gene therapies and even commodity chemicals and fuels. BioTalent Canada has estimated that by 2029, Canada may require as many as 65,000 additional workers in this sector.
“U of T Engineering already has a lot of experience producing highly-qualified personnel in the biotechnology space, as well as strong links with a large network of partners in this area,” says Professor Julie Audet (BME), Vice-Dean, Graduate Studies at U of T Engineering.
“We wanted to leverage these relationships to provide hands-on, experiential learning opportunities that can help people level-up their skills, whether they are already in the industry or thinking of moving into it.”
Audet and her collaborators — including CCRM, a not-for-profit organization that supports the commercialization of cell and gene therapies, and BioZone, a centre for applied bioscience and bioengineering research at U of T — received funding from the Ontario Microcredentials Challenge Fund to help develop three new courses covering a range of topics in biomanufacturing.
The courses, which are administered by U of T’s School of Continuing Studies, are:
- Good Manufacturing Practice in Biomanufacturing
- Quality Assurance Management in Biomanufacturing
- Bioprocess Foundations
The first two of these courses will be available in the fall of 2023, while the Bioprocess Foundations course will run in the winter 2024 semester. Learners enrolled in these courses will be eligible to apply for funding from the Ontario Student Assistance Program to cover the course fees.