NBC2

The NBC2 is a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education center focused on biomanufacturing located at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.

The NBC2 is a collaborative of educational institutions, biomanufacturers and organizations working together to develop local biomanufacturing education, training, and workforce infrastructures to support the maturation of the biotechnology industry and the growth of the bioeconomy. The NBC2 has developed biomanufacturing skill standards, curriculum, conferences and workshops, and apprenticeships, all available through our website at www.biomanufacturing.org.

The NBC2 is an offshoot of Bio-Link. Sonia Wallman became director of the Northeast Region at the founding of Bio-Link in 1998. In 1994, she developed a biotechnology/biomanufacturing program at New Hampshire Community Technical College (now Great Bay Community College) in Portsmouth, NH to support a new biomanufacturer nearby in the Pease International Tradeport.

Student graduates of the A.S. degree and a certificate program were hired into entry-level biopharmaceutical manufacturing positions, particularly in production and quality control and later in validation and process development. One could see the growth of the industry before one's eyes as new facilities were built or expanded in the northeast.

The NBC2 was funded as a separate, regional center in fall 2005 to support the maturation of the biotechnology industry. The NBC2 has hubs throughout the nation to facilitate the development of local biomanufacturing infrastructures at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, PA (PI Margaret Bryans); Minuteman Regional Technial High School in Lexington, MA (CoPI Ron Marino); Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua, NY (CoPI James Hewlett); the Community College of Baltimore County in Catonsville, MD (CoPI Tom Burkett); Alamance Community College in Graham, NC (CoPI William Woodruff); Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington, IN (CoPI Sengyong Lee) and at MiraCosta College in Oceanside, CA (CoPI Mike Fino).