Undergraduate Certificate

BTEC's Undergraduate Certificate in Biomanufacturing is designed both for NC State students and for persons from outside the University who wish to gain a recognized competence that is listed on an official university transcript. NC State students whose schedule does not allow them to complete a minor in in biomanufacturing will find that the certificate supports their major and adds breadth to their education.

Biomanufacturing refers to the use of cells or other living microorganisms to produce commercially viable products. Vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and proteins for medicinal use are all produced by biomanufacturing. Other examples include amino acids, industrial enzymes, biofuels, and biochemicals for consumer and industrial applications. Biomanufacturing is an interdisciplinary field incorporating aspects of chemical engineering, biochemistry, and microbiology. Students from a wide variety of majors take BTEC courses in order to gain hands-on experience in a simulated-cGMP* environment to prepare them for rapidly growing fields in biomanufacturing. *current Good Manufacturing Practice

Requirements

The following prerequisite must be completed with a grade of C- or better prior to taking courses for the post-baccalaureate certificate. Depending upon an applicant's background and experience, this prerequisite may be waived.

Course # Course Title Credit Hours
BIO 183 Introductory Biology: Cellular and Molecular Biology 4

A minimum of 12 credit hours is required to earn the undergraduate certificate. Review the three categories below to see how hours are allocated.

  1. Introductory Seminar Pertaining to Biomanufacturing (1 credit)
    Course # Course Title Credit Hours
    BEC 220 Introduction to Drug Development and Careers in Biomanufacturing 1
  2. Base Biomanufacturing Sequence (2 credits)
    All students must complete one of the following courses.
    Course # Course Title Credit Hours
    BEC 330 Principles and Applications of Bioseparations 2
    or    
    BEC 463 Fermentation of Recombinant Microorganisms 2
  3. Electives (9 credits minimum)
    Students must complete at least 9 credits of courses from the list below. Alternate courses may be accepted if relevant.

    Course # Course Title Credit Hours

    BAE/BBS 425

    Industrial Microbiology and Bioprocessing

    3

    BBS 426

    Industrial Microbiology & Biomanufacturing Laboratory

    2

    BCH 351

    General Biochemistry

    4
    BCH 451 Principles of Biochemistry  4

    BEC 436

    Introduction to Downstream Process Development

    2

    BEC 440

    Expression Systems in Biomanufacturing

    3

    BEC 442

    Insect Cells Protein Expression

    2

    BEC/CHE 462

    Fundamentals of Bio-Nanotechnology

    3
    BEC/CHE 463 Fermentation of Recombinant Microorganisms  

    BEC 475

    Global Regulatory Affairs for Medical Products

    3

    BEC 480

    cGMP Fermentation Operations

    2

    BEC/BME 483

    Tissue Engineering Technologies

    2

    BEC 485

    cGMP Downstream Operations

    2

    BEC 488

    Animal Cell Culture Engineering

    2

    BEC 497

    Biomanufacturing Research Projects

    (2 credits maximum)

    BIT 410

    Manipulation of Recombinant DNA

    4

    BIT 466

    Animal Cell Culture

    2

    GN 311

    Principles of Genetics (previously GN 411)

    4

Certificates are awarded at graduation to NC State students; they may not be awarded after a student has received the associated degree at NC State except in those cases in which a student continues enrollment for a second or third undergraduate degree.

For more information

For additional information about this certificate program, contact Winnell Newman, BTEC's manager of student programs, at 919-515-0213 or winnell_newman@ncsu.edu.