INDUSTRIAL BIOPROCESSES BOOTCAMP PROGRAM – FALL 2024

CNETE has recently developed training courses in the field of fermentation bioprocesses, in order to meet the ever-increasing demands of companies, industrialists, graduate students, research centers, etc., working in any way in the field of biotechnologies, and more specifically in industrial bioprocesses.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Extended to Friday, August 16th, 2024

RATES

Theoretical training (online): $1,500 (plus taxes) | Includes PDF training documents for modules covered
Practical training (at CNETE, Shawinigan): $2,000 (plus taxes) | Includes hard copy of protocols for bioreactor set-up, bioprocess start-up, analyses, checklist, and data entry table
Theoretical and practical training combo: $3,250 (plus taxes) | $250 discount for registration in both courses
An invoice will be issued in the following days, to be paid by August 30th, 2024

An invoice will be issued in the following days, to be paid by August 30th, 2024. In case the number of participants does not allow the start of a theoretical or practical training cohort, the amounts paid will be refunded, if applicable.

IMPORTANT

The start of theoretical training is conditional on confirmed payment of a sufficient number of participants by August 30th, 2024.
The start of practical training is conditional on confirmed payment of a sufficient number of participants by August 30th, 2024.
Theoretical training will take place in six 4-hour blocks, one per week (8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.), starting on Thursday, September 5th, 2024 and ending on Thursday, October 10th, 2024.
Practical training dates: November 13th, 14th and 15th, 2024.
Theoretical training is a prerequisite for practical training. However, participation in the practical training course alone may be considered on an exceptional basis, subject to instructors’ approval.
Registration is considered valid only after payment has been received.

Authorized means of payment: cheque or bank transfer only.

For any questions: Nicholas Berrouard (nberrouard@cnete.qc.ca) / Nicolas Viau (nviau@cnete.qc.ca).

DESCRIPTION

Microbial fermentation is a cross-disciplinary technology that can be applied to the pharmaceutical, agricultural, food, environmental and bioenergy sectors, enabling the production of biomolecules such as vaccine adjuvants, specialized proteins and enzymes relevant for medicine or food, biostimulants, biodetergents, probiotics, prebiotics, antimicrobial peptides, nanoantibodies, and more. These training courses are both theoretical and practical, depending on customer needs. They are aimed both at people new to the field, and at experienced personnel wishing to improve their practical knowledge. Two new training courses will be available this spring.

The training offered by CNETE, in partnership with District3, comprises two parts:

Theoretical (24 hours, online)
Practical (3 days at CNETE, Shawinigan, QC)

INSTRUCTORS

With over 60 years of cumulative experience in bioprocesses, Denis Groleau, PhD (Université de Sherbrooke) and Louis Tessier, PhD (Cégep de Shawinigan / CNETE) are experts who will convey the essential concepts and get you to think!

Denis Groleau, PhD

Adjunct professor at Université de Sherbrooke, consultant and collaborator at the CNETE

Experience:

Research officer at Biotechnology Research Institute, Biochemical Engineering Section, and Microbial Fermentation Pilot Plant (NRC, Montreal) 1987-2012
Mounting and giving a training program dealing with pilot-scale microbial fermentation and primary recovery (1992-1995)
Professor-researcher at Université de Sherbrooke (Faculty of Engineering) as a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair holder (2012-2021)

Research skills:

Various groups of microorganisms including genetically engineered ones
Biopolymers, technical or pharmaceutical enzymes, recombinant peptides and proteins, microbial inoculants, vaccines, vaccine adjuvants, plasmids, etc.
Technologies of bioreactors

Louis Tessier, PhD

Professor at Cégep de Shawinigan, and associate researcher at CNETE

Experience:

Professor at the department of biology and biotechnologies since 2000 (Laboratory Techniques in Biotechnology and the Natural Sciences programs)
Teacher of the Industrial Bioprocess course since the last 23 years (wrote a book in French used by colleges and universities)
Conducting applied researches in industrial bioprocesses at CNETE

Research skills

Optimization of culture medium, fermentation conditions, modes of fermentation with wildtype and recombinant strains, scaling-up bioprocesses
Purification technologies (membrane filtration, continuous centrifugations, chromatography, distillation, freeze and spray-drying, precipitation, etc.)
Biosurfactants, biopolymers, fragrances, exoenzymes, proteins, fatty and organic acids…
Bioreactor technology

TRAINING PROGRAM

Intensive online theoretical training on bioprocesses, especially regarding the different steps of microbial fermentation, covering the following content:

Overview: industrial constraints and realities, difficulties encountered
Microorganisms: sources, purity, long-term maintenance, preparation of an industrial stock, genetic instability, improvement, and more
Various types of bioreactors: vial, microbioreactors, laboratory bioreactors, pilot- and industrial-scale bioreactors, single-use, customer service, and more
Basic or sophisticated bioreactor? The different parts of a bioreactor and how to maintain them, parts and probes to achieve added value.
Basic microbial fermentation operations: inoculum, culture media (types and preparation), media sterilization and constraints to take into account, inoculation, sampling, sample processing and monitoring.
Measurement of biomass and metabolites: growth curve, metabolism, approaches to measuring biomass (constraints to take into account), yield calculations.
What to expect during fermentation: non-biological risks (power outage, probe failure, pump issues, valve malfunction, insufficient oxygen) and biological risks (excess foam, dry wall growth, microbial contamination, leaks, spills, and more).
Various modes of operation of bioreactors: batch mode, fed-batch mode, continuous mode.
Scaling up fermentation processes: classical vs inverted scale-up, specificities, decision criteria (inoculum size, air circulation, agitation, energy consumption, pressure, mix quality…), scale-up context.
Primary recovery: sedimentation, discontinuous and continuous centrifugation, membrane filtration (micro-, ultra-, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis).
Overview of real-life cases: contamination by bacterial spores, large-scale tank pressurization, leaking tests, media and ingredient quality, communication problems, scale-up and different behaviour, etc.
Calculations and production costs: main errors, biotech product categories, key performance indicators, bioprocess costs, how to reduce costs according to scale.
Security and regulatory aspects: security levels, work environment, commercialization of new substances, production standards according to final uses (GLP, GMP, HACCP, ISO 22000, VDD…) robustness et reproducibility, good practices at larger scales.
The Quebec fermentation technology ecosystem: main public infrastructures with laboratory and pilot units, available funding sources, intellectual property protection (patents vs industrial secrets).

Intensive practical training at CNETE, over 3 days (may vary according to actual needs):

Intensive workshops on laboratory-scale bioreactors using a recombinant, enzyme-producing strain used in genetic engineering
- - Preparation and inoculum start
  - Preparation of culture media, assembly and sterilization of bioreactor and accessories, purity checks
  - Starting the fermentation process, monitoring and sampling
  - Sample analysis (biomass, substrate, recombinant proteins)
  - Cell lysis techniques and protein recovery
  - Yield and productivity calculations and interpretation
  - Production of a -80°C working cell bank

Real-life situations with bioreactors subject to frequent problems and troubleshooting
Demonstration with a pilot-scale bioreactor