The following article summarizes the original event which is listed below the summary.
BioMADE: a new hub of innovation on the Twin Cities campus
The University of Minnesota aims to become a hub of bioindustrial manufacturing through a new multimillion-dollar partnership partly funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. Bioindustrial manufacturing uses living organisms, such as bacteria and yeast, to produce innovative products, often more sustainable than other similar products.
The new Bioindustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem, or BioMADE, is part of a cooperative agreement with 32 other universities, 30 companies, and the U.S. Department of Defense, the institute will be located in a new Microbial Cell Production Facility on the Twin Cities campus in St Paul. BioMADE is one of 16th such Manufacturing Innovation Institute nationwide, organized to support successful launch of innovative industries.
“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.”
Our speakers, Andrea Backes and Michael Smanski, have both been extensively involved with the development of the University’s proposal for the institute. Andrea Backes was recently named chief of operations for BioMADE in Minnesota, coming from a 10-year leadership role with the College of Biological Sciences. Michael Smanski is a McKnight Land Grant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics and scientific leader of the University’s component in BioMADE.
UMRA A.M. | BioMADE: a new hub of innovation on the Twin Cities campus
Tue, March 9 2021, 9am
Andrea Backes and Michael Smanski
BioMADE
Event to be held via Zoom.
The new Bioindustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem, or BioMADE, an institute dedicated to boosting nonmedical bioindustrial manufacturing in the United States, will be the focus of attention for UMRA A.M. on March 9.
Part of a cooperative agreement with 32 other universities, 30 companies, and the U.S. Department of Defense, the institute will be located in a new Microbial Cell Production Facility on the Twin Cities campus in St Paul.
How did this come to land in Minnesota? What will be the role of University of Minnesota scholars and researchers with the new institute? What did it take to create the many layers of partnership to make this possible? Will the institute energize new technologies and biomanufacturing in Minnesota? The College of Biological Sciences has long invested in biotechnology resources on the St. Paul campus. How will the new institute leverage those resources as part of an innovation ecosystem?
Andrea Backes and Michael Smanski, both extensively involved with the development of the University’s proposal for the institute, will be our guests on March 9 to tell us about BioMADE and the bustle on the St. Paul campus. For your homework before the event, take a look at BioMADE and UMN, the video created for the University's proposal.
Andrea Backes was recently named chief of operations for BioMADE in Minnesota, coming from a 10-year leadership role with the College of Biological Sciences. Michael Smanski is a McKnight Land Grant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics and scientific leader of the University’s component in BioMADE.
Please register and join us for UMRA A.M. at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, March 9, via Zoom.
—Jan Morlock, UMRA president-elect and Program Committee chair