History of NBC2

The Northeast Biomanufacturing Center and Collaborative (NBC2) was a National Science Foundation Advanced Technology Education funded regional center supported from 2005 to 2022 (DUE 1501631). The Center began at Great Bay Community College in Portsmouth, New Hampshire with Dr. Sonia Wallman as the Principal Investigator. In 2009, the Center moved to Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) in Blue Bell, PA. Dr. Linda Rehfuss, Dean of STEM, served as PI followed by Biotechnology Professor Dr. Maggie Bryans in 2010. NBC2 partner Community Colleges that made up the collaborative were: Bucks County Community College, PA; Finger Lakes Community College, NY; Alamance Community College, NC; Ivy Tech Community College, IN; Mira Costa Community College, CA; Community College of Baltimore County, MD; Mount Wachusett Community College, NH.

The focus of NBC2 has been and continues to be the creation of biomanufacturing curriculum to support the education and training of technicians for the biomanufacturing industry. In the past twenty years NBC2 has worked with industry subject matter experts to develop a suite of curricular materials including a biomanufacturing lab manual, the Introduction to Biomanufacturing textbook, several process specific short lab manuals, skill standards and competencies for biomanufacturing technicians and a biomanufacturing exam. Over the years the center has expanded its focus to include curricular material and hands-on experiences in the areas of cell and gene therapy, industrial biotechnology, and stem cell technology. This material and much more is available to you through this website. 

Since the NBC2 Regional Center sunsetted in 2022, this website is now supported by the NSF ATE National Center for Biotechnology, InnovATEBIO DUE 2348909.