Education and Workforce Development

The bioindustrial manufacturing sector is poised for significant growth in the coming decade and will need a trained and prepared workforce. BioMADE is building the workforce of the future by pairing industry-driven competencies with program development through K-12 schools, community colleges, universities, and professional development organizations.

In partnership with our member network, BioMADE will create and provide world-leading innovation in education and workforce development programming for bioindustrial manufacturing. By providing coordination for successful programs already in place, catalyzing improvement of those with great promise, and creating new opportunities where gaps exist, BioMADE is redefining how to develop the advanced manufacturing workforce of the future.

BioMADE’s Education and Workforce Development Focus Areas

K-12 Education

Exposing students to biotechnology tools and their real-world applications.

Community Colleges and Universities

Bridging the gap between postsecondary education and industry needs.

Professional Development

Keep the expanding workforce on the cutting-edge of skills and knowledge.

Building Awareness of Bioindustrial Manufacturing Careers

Shaping the future starts with inspiration. To fully realize the potential of bioindustrial manufacturing, we need to bring diverse, talented, and innovative voices into the field. This means engaging communities to build awareness of the career opportunities our field has to offer. At the moment, you'd be hard-pressed to walk into a high school in the U.S. and find a student dreaming to become a metabolic engineer, but BioMADE envisions a future where students are exposed to the tools of biotechnology and their application to the real world through bioindustrial manufacturing. Our field has limitless potential to excite curious minds, and BioMADE aims to bring about the programs that can turn that potential into reality. BioMADE also believes learning is a lifelong process and that it's never too late to be inspired, so we will also work with adults looking to pursue new paths.

Photo (c) Solano Community College

Preparing the Future Workforce with Innovative Education

As our technologies evolve, so too must our approach to education. Despite long-standing efforts, there remains a consistent gap between the educational experiences of new employees and the skills and competencies they need to be successful in an industrial setting. By building bridges across our industry and education membership bases, BioMADE will help close this gap and find new ways to align the educational opportunities for students to the real-world skills they need to be successful. This means emphasizing training where disciplines converge, incorporating learning beyond technical skills (such as ethics and entrepreneurship) and creating supported pathways for transitioning between education and employment. By building alignment with industry into the fabric of the educational experience, BioMADE will help reduce the resource investment into new employee training, hasten the pace of innovation, and cultivate a diverse and deep talent pool for our industry members.

Supporting the Growth of the Current Workforce with Professional Development

With the rapid pace of technological development within bioindustrial manufacturing, opportunities to modernize the current workforce are as imperative as cultivating the next generation. Meeting the needs of the workforce will likely mean recruiting people from other manufacturing sectors and providing them with the context-specific education and training they need to be successful in bioindustrial spaces. Additionally, as the impact of sustainable approaches to our bioeconomy are developed, more and more companies will be looking to incorporate bio-based processes into their workflows. To support this expansion of bioindustrial technologies, BioMADE will work with our industry members to provide workshops and other continuing education programs that help companies keep their expanding workforce on the cutting-edge of skill development.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

BioMADE is committed to promoting and advancing greater diversity, equity, and inclusion within the biomanufacturing field. BioMADE seeks partners who have a demonstrated ability to achieve biomanufacturing innovation and a commitment to advancing opportunities that foster a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workforce. BioMADE partners are expected to demonstrate their commitment and strategy for achieving a diverse workforce through their proposed implementation plan.

"Solano Community College is delighted to be a member of BioMADE. We view its mission of promoting the biological production of commodity chemicals in a sustainable way to be critical. The essential parallel mission of expanding the technical workforce to staff manufacturing facilities looms as a challenge to be solved if these innovations are to be commercialized."

– Jim DeKloe, Solano Community College