Sealed Room Opens Doors at Penn. Community College

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) — A new facility at Northampton Community College intended to prepare students for careers in biomanufacturing takes its name from something as simple as a glass dish for growing bacteria.

The newly minted training tool for students — as well as employees from regional biotech companies — may be an acronym, but it represents a conscious homage to a perennial staple in biolabs worldwide.

Located in the Bethlehem campus’ Hartzell Technology Hall, the PETRI Project —  or Pipeline for Education Training Resources & Innovation — is a 20-by-20-foot hermetically sealed laboratory chamber where students learn how to manufacture biomeds in the type of environment they’ll be asked to work in when transitioning from the classroom to the business world.

Futuristic. Cutting edge. But as basic as the glass container for developing cells invented by bacteriologist Julius Petri more than a century ago.

“We wanted to describe it in a way that people can relate to,”’ said Cindy Adams, project director.

Constructed through a $703,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, the antiseptic “clean room” is also a training facility that area companies can take advantage of, at reasonable cost, to send employees to for continuing education while not compromising their production schedules.

“Students will be able to find a position in research with large companies,” said Pennsylvania Bio President Mickey Flynn, who was among a small group of industry leaders that attended an afternoon ribbon-cutting at the facility earlier this month.

“It will gear them to move into large pharmaceuticals,” he said.

Students, up to 10 at a time, don protective gear and enter the ``clean room” through an airlock designed to keep out microbes and dust particles. The hooded gear resembles anti-radiation jumpsuits worn by technicians that work with nuclear reactors, and students  perform tasks in an environment that is kept barely over 60 degrees to reduce the risk of contaminants. Any materials introduced into the room come in via a “pass through,” or small portal, designed to keep out such contaminants. Particulate-free air is pumped in from above and expelled through vents at floor level.

“It helps keep the germs at bay,” Adams said.

About 41 students currently make up Northampton’s Biotech degree program, and Adams hopes that number will rise once word of the facility gets out.

As a result of its creation, the college now offers specialized diplomas in Aseptic Processing and Automation Control.

Companies previously would have sent their entry-level technicians to the Parenteral Drug Association’s headquarters in Bethesda, Md., for training. They can now save travel and lodging costs by having them make the short drive to NCC, Adams said, while also reducing down time.

“Now they won’t lose a day or two of work,”’ she said. 

Students and entry-level hires can conduct cell-based research, manufacture drugs such as Humiline (human insulin) or Remicade (a centocor-produced treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), and conduct experiments in bioreaction.

With many jobs projected in the growing field of biomanufacturing, Adams said that the college has positioned itself well to serve its students and the community.

“Northampton Community College’s mission is to create a bond with work force development,” said Carolyn Bortz, dean of Allied Health & Sciences.

And the work force has taken notice.

“We’re delighted that the facility is up and running,’’ Flynn said. ``The industry is well-positioned here. We’re just starting to be recognized, and this facility will help us that much more.”

Erik Rydstrom, director of the Product/Process Team for Sanofi Pasteur Inc., said the PETRI project is the answer to most biology students’ wish lists: a facility that allows them hands-on experience manufacturing drugs to combat debilitating diseases while providing them with a competitive advantage in the workplace.

“This is a win for the college, this is a win for the industry and this is really a win for the students,” he said. 

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