The Board of Regents has unanimously approved contractual agreements for the University’s Twin Cities campus to serve as the primary site of the new Bioindustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem (BioMADE), making the University site one of 16 institutes within the new federally funded Manufacturing USA network.  

The BioMADE institute “promises to be a catalyst for significant growth in bioindustrial manufacturing and an economic opportunity for Minnesota,” the University said in a news release announcing the decision made by the Regents during a special meeting held in January.  

The U.S. Department of Defense announced in October 2020 it would award BioMADE at least $87.5 million in federal funds over seven years, which will be matched by more than $180 million in additional funding from non-federal sources. Cargill, the Minnesota-based global agribusiness leader, is a key participant in the BioMADE project. 

“This is a transformational opportunity for our University and our region,” said University President Joan Gabel. “BioMADE will leverage our already thriving life science and MedTech industries … to create many new local opportunities for discovery and innovation, as well as for entrepreneurship, investment and employment.” 

Background materials reviewed by the regents indicate bioindustrial manufacturing can yield new products and technologies with applications such as anti-corrosion coatings, water purification systems, heat- and fire-resistant materials, enzymes that can purify drinking water, biofuels, and films for electronic touch screens and circuit boards. In discussing the project, the regents confirmed the facility will not engage in medical or warfare-related research.

Strategic alignment

Valery Forbes, dean of the College of Biological Sciences, highlighted the new institute’s alignment with the college’s strategic plan and Biotechnology Resource Center (BRC). 

Central to the BioMADE initiative is the creation of an 82,000-square-foot Microbial Cell Production Facility (MCPF) on the Twin Cities campus in St. Paul. The production facility, which the college will finance with space leased to BioMADE, will allow large-scale production and application of BRC research to real world problems. 

Dean Forbes said the creation of the MCPF will be an important step in establishing a biotech quadrant on the campus. Ground-breaking for the new facility is scheduled for September 2021. 

In discussion with the regents, Richard Cramer, the U’s vice president for research, said the BioMade initiative is supported by the Engineering Biology Research Consortium, a national nonprofit organization whose members include representatives from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. President Gabel noted that these connections can help develop a pipeline to Minnesota for graduate students and employees. 

To learn more, watch BioMADE and UMN, the excellent nine-minute video created as part of the University’s original proposal. If required, use the password: CBS.

—Jerry Rinehart, UMRA Liaison to the Board of Regents