2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

WIP: Biomanufacturing in Appalachia - Experimental Design of a Bioengineering Training Program

Presented at Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division (BAE) Technical Session

Building on our initial efforts to establish a regional center for biotechnology in the Appalachian Highlands, we present updates on our ongoing project to foster workforce development in bioengineering and biomanufacturing. In this update, we will discuss the research and evaluation strategy to assess the effectiveness of our training regime. This phase focuses on a hybrid training approach which allows students to establish knowledge competency asynchronously while developing practical industry-aligned skills in a series of short lab modules. We present a strategy of pre- and post-testing and industry assessment of participant competency. Additionally, we present this Work In Progress (WIP) to solicit critique of the proposed plan of strategy. We see this development as addressing the critical need for a more distributed and resilient bioeconomy.

Authors

Prof. Richard Cody Prince http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-1199-9465 East Tennessee State University [biography]

Dr. Richard C. Prince is an Assistant Professor of Engineering at East Tennessee State University. His research focuses on the development of techniques in vibrational spectroscopy and imaging to study biological and materials systems and to the application of optical sensing to problems in bioengineering. He has a passion for interdisciplinary science and engineering education and has taught to use techniques from multiple fields to improve the applicability of STEM education. He received his B.A. in science policy and physics in 2015. He completed doctoral work at the University of California, Irvine, under Professor Eric O. Potma in 2021, where his dissertation focused on the application of small, vibrational tags to coherent Raman scattering microscopy to study cellular and tissue metabolism.
PAMELA J. MIMS East Tennessee State University
Aruna Kilaru East Tennessee State University
Lindsay Lee http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-4519-7209 Michigan State University

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