Downstream Processing 2022
This course was a great learning experience. I signed up to refresh my DSP knowledge and gain insight on current developments in this field.
I really appreciate the mix of theory-focused lectures, presentations from industry, and exercises in which you can apply your knowledge.
The course was well organized, and enough time was provided to network with other participants from industry, speakers, and TU Delft students.
Robin Mack
R&D Research Engineer at BASF
Downstream Processing 2022
During my doctorate, I was able to gain a lot of skills in the area of upstream development, but I always lacked a bit of knowledge about what comes after fermentation. Therefore, I can highly recommend the downstream course, as you can refresh your theoretical knowledge or learn new things within a quite intensive week.
What I particularly liked about the course is that it is not specifically tailored to one industry, but that participants from the pharmaceutical industry as well as from white biotechnology can benefit from it. Due to the very broad spectrum, the intensity of the course was relatively high, but manageable. The course is divided into a theoretical part presented by TU Delft professors, followed by calculation examples to apply what has just been learned, and finally rounded off by presentations from the private sector and real case studies. I would also like to mention the excellent equipment at the TU Delft. For example, MS Surface notebooks are provided, which gives you the opportunity to take notes digitally and then take them with you on a USB stick, without paperwork, which I really appreciate. Finally, the very good organization of the course apart from the downstream processing must also be mentioned - the lunch was always excellent and special attention was paid to giving you the opportunity to get to know each other better through evening activities. All in all, I can definitely recommend the course.
Artur Schuller
R&D Scientist Bioprocess Development at DSM
Downstream Processing 2022
I applied to broaden my knowledge in DSP, specifically in chromatography, my current area of research. The course was focused on advanced industry experience combined with theoretical practices, which altogether gave a complete process overview of the smallest details of the DSP process. I was very impressed by the high level of teaching material and the relevancy to industrial production, as well as from TU Delft facilities. The practical case study was a fun exercise that enabled in depth learning of each DSP stage and was the highlight of the course. I would highly suggest this course to every researcher and engineer interested to broaden their knowledge in DSP.
Katya Harkovski
R&D Project manager at Collplant
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2022
The Advanced Course on Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology taught me that an interdisciplinary approach and learning from real industry cases is crucial when developing a successful fermentation process. Learnings from the course will enable me to collaborate better with people working with different fields (fermentation team, strain engineers, modelling team and DSP team). The course is very intense, but well-organized social activities enables to refresh the brain and get ready for the next day.
Beata Lehka
Postdoctoral Researcher at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2022
I applied to the Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology course because as an early-career fermentation engineer, I wanted to refresh and expand my understanding of metabolism and process engineering principles. The course was rigorous and challenging while still being enjoyable and rewarding. The lectures were relevant to the work I do, the guest speaker selection was great, and the group exercises helped cement the lessons and provided time to get to know my peers. I loved interacting with so many people doing interesting work in the field, and the social outings planned by the course staff were fun for networking as well as getting to see more of Delft. I would recommend this course to anyone working in fermentation or fermentation-adjacent roles who wants to level up their theoretical understanding of the underlying principles. My advice for anyone taking the course would be to review all of the pre-read and video material prior to attending, it was easy to digest and gave me a head start when we got to some of the challenging concepts in the course. Overall, I had a great experience and I would gladly take another course with BioTech Delft.
Sonia Holar
Fermentation Engineer, Ginkgo Bioworks
Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering 2022
I attended the course because I wanted to expand my knowledge about enzymes and protein engineering. My background is in chemical and biochemical engineering. Thus the course was especially challenging for me, as I have never worked with protein engineering before. The course was intense but very interesting and well structured. The variety of lecturers, both from the industry and academia, provided the course content with different perspectives, resulting in many motivating and insightful lectures related to their own work.
Another important aspect of the course is the social part. We had a lot of fun during the week, especially at the course dinner. I expanded my network with many people working in similar fields as me but with many different backgrounds.
I would recommend the course to anyone working within biocatalysis, as the course provides you with a lot of different aspects and valuable takeaways.
Amalie Vang Høst
PhD Candidate, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2022
As a starting PhD student, I applied to the course Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology to get a good overview of what is done in the field. The course was certainly advanced, but the main lecturers take their time to explain the core concepts very thoroughly . Along with the core concepts of fermentation and microbial physiology, some very inspiring lectures were given ranging from the origin of life to computational fluid dynamics. I can recommend this course to everyone that comes from a different field of research and wants to know the broad field of fermentation!
Paul van Lent
PhD student, TU Delft
Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering 2022
Followed the course online.
My field of work is metabolic engineering and I wanted to expand my field of work to enzyme engineering. The course was intense but well-planned in a way that most of the basics of enzyme engineering and the recent innovations in this field were covered. I could readily apply some of the learnt information in our live projects. I would recommend this course for microbiologists and chemists who are trying to start working with biocatalysis. Balaji Sundara Sekar Engineering Scientist, Allozymes Pte. Ltd., Singapore
My field of work is metabolic engineering and I wanted to expand my field of work to enzyme engineering. The course was intense but well-planned in a way that most of the basics of enzyme engineering and the recent innovations in this field were covered. I could readily apply some of the learnt information in our live projects. I would recommend this course for microbiologists and chemists who are trying to start working with biocatalysis. Balaji Sundara Sekar Engineering Scientist, Allozymes Pte. Ltd., Singapore
Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering 2022
I have over the years worked in areas of strain development for Biocatalysis, enzyme expression libraries development, early discoveries, and development of microbial cell factories in general. The advanced course on Biocatalysis has been a great help to me, by helping me to dive deeply into chemical reactions that the strains and enzymes I develop perform. What this week-long course has also highlighted to me quite well is the need to build understanding and work ever more closely with chemists who use the enzymes and strains we develop for Biocatalysis. The synergy built on our mutual understanding would help us develop the best biocatalysts for maximum results.
The lecturers were all very experienced experts in their fields both in industry and academia, they were also great teachers. The classes were quite interactive and engaging, this helps a great deal to learn each of the subject matter being discussed without losing focus.
Of course, the selection of participants was a good mix too and the social events were opportunities to unwind and get to know one another better.
I highly recommend the course to anyone interested in learning about Biocatalysis from fundamentals to applications.
Temitope Peter Adeboye
Bayer AG, Expert molecular biology/Biotransformation
Bioprocess Design 2021
I am a bioengineer by training but passionate about fermentation and bioprocess design. I took the Advance Bioprocess Design course to deepen my knowledge in the field and learn more about scaling up methodology and applying it in real life. The course had very insightful topics where we learned the principles behind process design from full-scale and was supported by a case study for the production of 1,4-butanediol and butadiene, where we applied our new learnings in bioreactor design in the last 3 days. The course has a tight schedule and is intensive, so I recommend brushing up on thermodynamics and biokinetics for those who want to take it and have not used this knowledge recently. The course was enlightening and very well presented by expert lecturers from academia and industry, we also had several social settings where we interacted with professionals with the same interests from a variety of disciplines. I enjoyed the small group dynamics with the lecturers and participants and I would highly recommend this course to anyone wishing to learn more about bioprocess design and challenge themselves. Overall, I had a great experience thanks to the organizers, lecturers, and my team during the course.
Helin Alagoz
EV Biotech, Fermentation Scientist
Helin Alagoz
EV Biotech, Fermentation Scientist
Modelling and Computation 2021
Having attended the Bioprocess design course in 2017, I have had good experiences with the advanced courses provided by BioTech Delft / TU Delft. My expectation was that I would gain more knowledge on computational modelling applications surrounding bacterial fermentation like computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and how this is applied. These expectations were met and surpassed as I was positively surprised to find the course also delved into metabolic pathways and genetics. By taken the intracellular enzymatic reactions into account, in a holistic modelling approach, we learned each casus requires its own modelling approach.
The course had a good balance between theoretical lectures and software practice, showing different software products available for CFD. The lecturers were all experienced experts in their relevant fields, stimulated discussion to improve understanding, and prepared their lectures around the main theme. Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions I had to attend this course online, but the hybrid meeting was setup well although I would have liked to be able to attend the offline course diner.
Given the intensity of the course, I would strongly recommend future participants to go through the preparatory material provided and to make sure the required software is installed up front. Although the emphasis of this course was on chemical engineering of microbial processes, I can strongly recommend this course to anyone working in the field of industrial process development as it will broaden your understanding of current technological possibilities and how these different fields interact.
Elco Backus
Janssen vaccines and prevention, Senior associate scientist Process development
The course had a good balance between theoretical lectures and software practice, showing different software products available for CFD. The lecturers were all experienced experts in their relevant fields, stimulated discussion to improve understanding, and prepared their lectures around the main theme. Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions I had to attend this course online, but the hybrid meeting was setup well although I would have liked to be able to attend the offline course diner.
Given the intensity of the course, I would strongly recommend future participants to go through the preparatory material provided and to make sure the required software is installed up front. Although the emphasis of this course was on chemical engineering of microbial processes, I can strongly recommend this course to anyone working in the field of industrial process development as it will broaden your understanding of current technological possibilities and how these different fields interact.
Elco Backus
Janssen vaccines and prevention, Senior associate scientist Process development
Modelling and Computation 2021
I am from a Chemical Engineering background with experience in CFD modeling during my PhD and started as a Postdoc at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Biosustainability for scale down studies of bioreactors. The extensive course was a perfect balance of modeling and experimental techniques, coupled with in depth understanding of the physics behind complex processes. The level of skills, expertise, and approachability of the presenters is something that made the course very relatable even to me coming from a different background in education. The exercises and case studies amalgamated a perfect blend of interaction and knowledge sharing between organizers and participants of the course, which added to the uniqueness. Overall, the value for time was entirely accounted for and I would strongly recommend this course to anyone especially looking for a modeling perspective in bioprocessing.
Soumendu Dasgupta
Denmark Technical University, Postdoc at Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Biosustainability
Soumendu Dasgupta
Denmark Technical University, Postdoc at Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Biosustainability
Multi-Omics 2021
Working with fermentation and bacterial cell physiology, my interest naturally shifted towards the ‘omics technologies which are essential state-of-the-art tools for intelligent microbial host design. I participated on this course to deepen my knowledge on the ‘omics approaches and to find further inspiration for their applications within my own research project.
Without a doubt, this was one of the best courses I have taken during my PhD education – the organization and execution of the course was spotless. High-quality lectures were spiced with interesting exercises, relevant examples and talks by industry. Additionally, the course provided a great platform for social networking.
I would recommend this course to those who are working on the development/improvement of industrial microbes and would like to have a coherent overview of the state-of-the-art ‘omics tools with hands on experience and relevant examples. This course requires some prior knowledge on Python and working in a terminal.
Greta Gecse
Industrial PhD student at DSM and DTU (Technical University of Denmark)
Multi-Omics 2021
In my career so far I have mostly worked with genome-scale metabolic model to improve industrial microorganisms. I decided to follow the advanced multi-omics course to get a broader overview also about the different -omic techniques and how to integrate them into my work. The course exceeded my expectations and I gained state of the art insights that are going to help me a lot. The entry-level of the course is quite high, but with the preparatory materials you will become familiar with the topics. I highly recommend candidates that are less familiar to work them through.
The course itself had a nice balance of lectures, practical exercises and talks about different applications of the techniques.
The organisation of the course left no room for improvement and I can recommend it to everyone who wants to get an overview of this emerging field.
Tim Krempel
Modelling Analyst at EV-Biotech
Multi-Omics 2021
I applied to the multi-omics course to get a better understanding of the techniques that exist to unravel the mysterious world of microorganisms and their capabilities. The course provided a great overview of each -omic technique to someone like me with more of an engineering background. The course itself had a good combination of theoretical background lectures as well as practical exercises to gain a better grasp of concepts. Although some of the techniques covered are too in depth for my project, it gave me a lot of ideas to consider for future research.
Kestral Johnston
PhD Candidate at Wetsus/Wageningen University
Bioprocess Design 2021
As a chemical engineering graduate working in the field on fermentation science with emphasis on scale up/down methodology this course was enlightening. The intense course schedule coupled with challenging and interesting case studies made the whole experience engaging and fun. The teachers held a high standard of expertise in their respective fields and were able to elaborate complex material in a simplistic manner. The guest lectures provided interesting topics, which could relate the course material to real-life scenarios in the current age of bioprocess design. Last and not least, the social activities were delightful and provided with a great opportunity to connect with likeminded individuals to socialize and in general having a good time.
I would highly recommend the course to any who wants to challenge their own knowledge in Bioprocess Design and be part of the industrial biotechnology journey.
Peter Ehlert Jensen
Junior Fermentation Engineer at The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability
Bioprocess Design 2021
Former as well as current colleagues and supervisors recommended this course to me, which is why I had quite high expectations of it. These expectations were met completely. As an MSc. In Biotechnology, the course was very valuable, giving insights more into Chemical Engineering and the production of mostly small molecules. The course had a good balance of lectures and practical exercises with a focus on planning a techno-economically viable bioprocess. The lectures gave a good summary of the state of the art in bioprocess design as well as current challenges in the field. The one-course week was quite intense, but there was plenty of time to socialize and get to know organizers and participants alike. In summary, I can highly recommend this course especially for people that want to extend their knowledge in Bioprocess Design for bulk chemicals.
Marcel Girard
Junior Fermentation Engineer at The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability
Bioprocess Design 2021
For a person with background in Chemical Engineering and passion for biotechnology, this course was very insightful with diverse topics and an interesting case study to understand about bioprocess design. The one week intensive course was filled with speakers from industries and academia providing apt environment to learn about the sector as a whole. The course is set at medium/advanced level with special focus on bioreactor design. The learning curve for this advanced course depends on professional background of an individual but all support was provided to achieve the same. The key highlight of the course is the opportunity to develop a process design in a case study where we could implement the knowledge learned. I highly recommend this course to people whose current work is related to experimental or conceptual design of biochemical/biotechnological process engineering. Finally, the course takes place in the modern building of DSM located in the small and beautiful city of Delft providing an energetic environment to get to know fellow candidates and speakers.
Sivaramakrishnan Chandrasekaran
Ph.D. Candidate in Sustainable process design, Delft University of Technology
Sivaramakrishnan Chandrasekaran
Ph.D. Candidate in Sustainable process design, Delft University of Technology
Bioprocess Design 2021
I have always felt interested in the role of Industrial Biotechnology to improve our lives and to make a more sustainable future. Therefore, I consider the Bioprocess Design course to be a key tool that allows trainees to understand how to develop a biological process from the product’s stoichiometry to the scale-up stage in order to guarantee a successful result. Undoubtedly, this course went beyond my expectations because I could update my knowledge with the latest advances in the fermentation technology field at the hands of recognized researchers all over the world. In addition, it was pleasant to be part of a great environment to meet new colleagues. I recommend this course to all who want to assume the challenge of making things in a different way.
María Isabel Rodríguez-Torres
Biological Engineer and MSc. Biotechnology (graduated from Universidad Nacional de Colombia)
María Isabel Rodríguez-Torres
Biological Engineer and MSc. Biotechnology (graduated from Universidad Nacional de Colombia)
Downstream Processing 2021
Contemporary practices, design methodologies and future approaches for cost-effective bioproduct recovery, purification and integrated unit positioning are widely addressed during the 5-day intense schedule of the ACPD. What exceeded my expectations includes the discussion sessions with industrial and academic experts who depicted a pragmatic overview of the challenges and opportunities in the sector and the week-long case study workshop where I directly applied fresh learnings into an integrated bio-process with respect to unit selection and economics. Congratulations to Biotech Delft for the smooth online organisation during this pandemic resulting with a unique interactive learning and networking environment.
Andreas – Faidon Pateromichelakis
Bioprocess Design PDEng Trainee at TU Delft
Downstream Processing 2021
My name is Tuur and I have a chemical engineering background, I have been working as process technologist for 3 years at the Pernis Refinery of Shell. I really enjoyed the advanced course on downstream processing organised by BioTech Delft!
I applied for the course because I wanted to expand my knowledge beyond the standard chemical process engineering towards biochemical process engineering. I wanted to learn the basics processes to separate biologically active molecules. This was exactly what we learned during the first three days, which were dedicated to explain the basic principles and formula’s used. These first days were quit fast paced, but this resulted in learning a lot in in short amount of time. Next to the learning we also got to know each other better, even in this online version. I especially liked the case study, because you can start to put to practice what you have learned and work together with someone from a totally different background.
I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to get further understanding of downstream biotechnological separation mechanics and integration, and has some background in engineering.
Tuur Vermunt
Process technologist (crude distillation), Shell Pernis Refinery
Downstream Processing 2021
It was an intense week, and I was able to learn more about the design of unit operations that are more used in the Biotechnology industry, which was the reason why I applied. Besides theory, the course also provides interesting presentations from people working on the Biotech industry. Exercises are the end of the day routine, and they prepare you to the solution of a bioprocess case in which your goal is to achieve the best process design. This is an excellent learning technique, but time for this practical part could be increased. Overall, I had a great experience in the Downstream Processing Course thanks to the wonderful Tu Delft team.
Renata Pinto da Silva Matos
Process Technology Engineer, Braskem
Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering 2020
The course was very well organized and structured. Over the week, I enjoyed learninging from the brilliant speakers and the very interesting topics. The content of every lecture was specific for each topic and well explained in visual presentations. I liked and appreciated the possibility to ask question after every lecture and the possibility to link with speakers at a later time if desired. Although I am aware of the diverse usage of enzymes in numerous fields, for me as an employee in the food sector it would have been great to have more examples about applied enzymology in food applications. Unfortunate, the social interaction with other participant is missing, but this is fully understandable in the current pandemic.
Overall, I would recommend this course to deepen the understanding about fundamental enzymology and to gain a broader picture of using enzymes in different fields.
Mathias Gebhardt
RD&A Senior Scientist, Kerry Applied Health & Nutrition
Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering 2020
My main objective to apply to this course was to deepen my knowledge in this field.
Like the previous experience that I had with BioTech Delft, the week was intense, with a lot of lectures from experts from both industry and academia, as well as computer practical slots.
Due to corona outbreak, the course was for the first time completely online. Although these are challenging times, from my point of view everything run smoothly and the course was well organized, and there was opportunity to connect with the participants and to build a nice network.
I would recommend this course to PhD/PDEng students and industrial workers to whom biocatalysis is a core subject in their projects, and/or in case they would like to refresh their memories regarding this topic.
Raquel Nunes Dias
PDEng Trainee in BioProcess Engineering, Delft University of Technology
Bioprocess Design 2020
The Bioprocess Design course offers a great opportunity to amplify your ability to combine theoretical process calculations with real world applications. Even though the week is fully packed with interesting lectures and exercises, one has enough time to network and to ask all lecturers detailed questions. This was one of the things I enjoyed most, because I got the chance to discuss with experts from different fields about my current projects. Overall, I’d recommend this course to anyone who wants to challenge his or her industrial biotech-knowledge and push it to the next level.
Pirolet Nicolas
Scientific employee at ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften
Bioprocess Design 2020
I took the Advanced course in Bioprocess Design with the expectation to learn practical methods to design a bioreactor for an industrial setting. The course completely met my expectations. We got first-hand knowledge and tips from the lecturers who also shared their industrial experiences with us. The course was very intensive from the beginning but the study material that was given beforehand helped a lot. Despite the limitations of COVID-19 rules, the organization team did a great job and some of us were able to participate on-site and get to know the other participants in person. I would highly recommend this course to anyone working or aiming to work in the upstream part of industrial biotechnology.
Miki Segami
PDEng Bioprocess engineering and design trainee at Delft University of Technology
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2020
Working on the strain development for some years, I was building my interest towards further fermentation processes – an essential future of my work. I participated in this course to gain a unique insight on that matter from the experts and the outcome was far beyond my expectations. The course included intense lectures, demo-tours, exercises, lab visits, social gatherings, great people and as much snack/food/beer support as you can handle. It was a great opportunity to challenge myself: tough, intensive, as advanced as it can get, tiring, rewarding and enjoyable experience. I would recommend this course to those who wants to know beyond the basics of bioprocess engineering, fermentation design, in-depth biotechnology and those seeking for important connections and nice memories. For the best understanding - previous background is necessary.
Ekaterina Kozaeva
PhD Student at Novo Nordisk Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2020
I sought a course that could provide both advanced topics in bioprocess as well as an interface with metabolic engineering. The MPFT course provided exactly that through theoretical lectures, exercises, a practical demonstration, and lectures from leading scientists. As a fermentation engineer who is transitioning into molecular biology, I benefited greatly from the course as it tied together the two disciplines I am working with. In addition to high quality teaching, the course also provided a great environment for social networking across many different professions as well as between industry and academia.
I do recommend this course to everyone who would like to expand his or her skills in fermentations, no matter if they have prior theoretical or experimental knowledge.
Irene Hjorth Jacobsen
PhD Student at DTU Bioengineering
Bioprocess Design 2019
The Bioprocess Design Course tackles fundamental concepts of the engineering aspects surrounding bioreactors, comprising mass transfer, mixing, fluids and thermodynamics. A strong focus was set in the black box of the process reaction (in-flows and out-flows), and additional talks were carried out covering downstream processing, pretreatment of biomass, industrial fermentation and purification techniques from experts from the industry. Great part of the course addressed a practical case for the up-scale of a bioprocess and the respective calculations to determine the dimensions of an industrial bioreactor. The course included a tour to the Pilot Plant Facility (BPF) at the Biotech Campus Delft, which provided additional insights for the scaling of bioprocesses by the “scale-up/scale-down approach”. This course can reinforce bioprocess concepts for engineers and can provide new knowledge for non-engineers such as biotechnologists, microbiologists by demonstrating, in a practical way, how bioprocess should be designed in order to be scaled to industrial levels.
Francisco Aguilar
PhD student at the Institute of Technical Chemistry (TCI) at the Leibniz University of Hannover
Environmental Biotechnology 2019
I have known the Advanced Course on the Environmental Biotechnology at TU Delft since 2007 when I studied at the University of Cincinnati. Taking the course has been in my to-do lists as one of my research interests is related to biofilm studies using microelectrodes. As I expected, the course taught what I really need to know from the origin and history of environmental biotechnology to the recent development of the biotechnology, focusing on biological process engineering. Meeting with internationally renowned scholars and discussing with them during the course was also a great pleasure and provided benefits to learn the behind-the-scenes stories of the modeling and process engineering. The course materials and the two-weeks experience at TU Delft will be incorporated into my teaching at UCF, strengthening my current knowledge on Environmental Biotechnology.
Woo Hyoung Lee
Associate Professor, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering, University of Central Florida
Environmental Biotechnology 2019
My background is industrial biotechnology, focused more in food, pharma and biotech bioprocess than wastewater treatment technologies. The course goes from stoichiometry and (bio)reaction thermodynamics, to the different types of treatment processes and bioreactor design. In my case, it helped me to get the “big picture” thanks to the lecturers which I always found knowledgeable and helpful. The case study and the excursion to a wastewater treatment plant are key to fix the theory and to see how it translates into reality. I would recommend the course for any professional not familiar with the environmental biotechnology background, that would like to have a broad overview of the matter.
Vicente Tomás Monje López
PhD student in the Process and Systems Engineering Centre at Denmark Technical University
Environmental Biotechnology 2019
As process engineer I design several waste water treatment plants according to our standards and knowledge. I wanted to follow this course to get more in depth knowledge of the fundamental chemistry, thermodynamics and other factors that are important in waste water treatment.
The course was very challenging and very highly paced. It showed me where waste water treatment has come from and where it is heading. It revealed many answers and will keep revealing more during my work since now I have a theoretical framework to fall back upon. The mix of the fundamental basics of waste water treatment and how that has been used to develop technologies and new techniques was very interesting. And I recommend anyone involved in designing or operation waste water treatment plants to follow this course, it really gives an insight in the processes that you are working with.
Tessa Geskus
Process Engineer at Paques Europe B.V.
Bioprocess Design 2019
For me, with a background in Chemical Engineering, this course provided an extensive introduction into the field of Bioprocesses and their Design. The course is at a medium-advanced level, which led to a steep learning curve. The principal focus lies on the bioreaction, but due to the multitude of invited speakers from different institutions/companies, the scope of the course ranges from pretreatment up to downstream processing aspects and casts light on a bioprocess from very different perspectives – a unique advantage of the course! I’d highly recommend the course to all with a background in (micro)biology seeking for increased knowledge about the technical aspects of a bioprocess or vice versa.
Nikolaus Vollmer
PhD student in Biosustainable Process Design, Technical University of Denmark
Multiscale Computational Methods in Bioprocesses 2018
I have been out of science details for the last 8 years. The Advanced Course Multiscale Computational Methods in Bioprocesses brought me up to speed quickly with many aspects of the rapidly developing fields of modelling and computation. The course shows how different aspects in a biotechnology process can be described adequately and how to combine them to describe actual process limitations. One great aspect of the course is that you learn to build the models and do the simulation during the course. Another aspect is the nice overview given of the rapidly developing field of biotechnology and the new opportunities that this gives us.
Joost Beekman
Senior Scientist Integrated Processing, DSM Food Specialties
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2019
The course consists of lectures giving a thorough insight into the theoretical aspects of bioprocess engineering, combined with inspiring talks given by leading scientists in a range of relevant fields. As a PhD student trained in molecular biology, I found that the course provided an interesting perspective on biology, which I apply when performing cultivations even though I don’t regularly perform reactor experiments. The course manages to remain relevant for both industry and academia. This both provides variety in the teaching, and also attracts participants from both areas which makes it a great platform for networking. The program allows for both immersion in the teaching material, and time for socializing with the other participants. Together with the facilities and motivated lecturers this provides a great atmosphere, which makes the two weeks very enjoyable. I would recommend this course for anyone who wants to expand their knowledge in bioprocess engineering, regardless of prior knowledge and experience.
Kristoffer Bach Falkenberg
PhD student at DTU Biosustain
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2019
As a strain engineer, I came to the course to seek insights that would help me address the plate-tank correlation conundrum – how to predict strain performance in a large-scale fermenter by 96-well plate model. The course helps me break down various systems (e.g. plate, micro-fermenter, lab-scale fermenter) and processes (e.g. batch, fed-batch, continuous) into the metric of rates, thus standardizing the variables. It was taught in a perfect balance between theory (lectures) and hands-on experience (exercises, case study, fermentation demo). In addition, the course provides ample opportunities for the participants to connect. I realized now I am part of a network that would truly empower me. I highly recommend the course to anyone who is in the related field of fermentation technology.
Chia-Hong Tsai
Scientist in Metabolic Engineering at Amyris, Inc.
Multiscale Computational Methods in Bioprocesses 2018
I attended the course to get up to date with current status in modelling of fermentation based processes. My aim was to get a good enough understanding of the different software and model methods to be able to communicate and be a link between biochemists and engineers. I got a good start with this course. This is an intense course that requires knowledge about fermentation processes and reactor design. I must admit that it required a steep learning curve with 3 SW + plus other methods in just one week.
The course is relevant on many levels for biochemical engineers working with CFDs and wants to get a broader knowledge, biochemical professions that wants an insight into the opportunities and possibilities of modelling used in CFD and chemical engineers that have recently begun working with fermentation. However, if you are like me and it is a while since you were active in the area, I advise you to refresh your skills in bio-kinetics and have a look at the software/CFD in advance. The course has a tight program with extremely knowledgeable speakers (high academic), practical modelling in different software, tours on the DSM Delft site, and the opportunities of interaction with the lectures and course participants. I believe that modelling is a good tool to support R&D and design and visualization of fermentation based processes.
Susanne Gitlesen
Special advisor, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS
Bioprocess Design 2018
I joined the Bioprocessing design course to get a deeper understanding of fermentation design and scale up – scale down. The course was very well structured and organized. There were not only lectures, but also a case study divided into sections over the course days. During these exercises we could apply the information that was presented to us, which was a very good way to put in practice what we learnt. On the last day the group that performed better in the case study was awarded with the Genomatica prize. Additionally, the course had participants from around the world. We had the opportunity to make many contacts with people working with fermentation in different fields. This year the course was hold in Wageningen, which is a nice University town. The location was perfect because we had the lectures in the hotel that we were staying, but we also had the opportunity to go one day and have lectures at the University. I would really recommend the course to anyone that already works with fermentations or who wants to learn more about it! It is great that I can apply the learnings from the course in my daily work and I am sure that would be true for everyone working with Bioprocesses!
Esther Dantas Costa
Fermentation Products Research at BASF
Bioprocess Design 2018
The aim of joining the Advanced Bioprocessing Design course was to improve my knowledge on bioprocessing, as I work on R&D in the biotechnology field, mainly, enhancement of bioprocesses and development of bio products. The training helped in the scale up and down for fermentation process design, air transfer and mixing calculation. The topics included in the course explained by a combination of theoretical and practical exercises, which made it simple and easily understandable, also working in the group helps to share knowledge and gather ideas. The training place was great and comfortable. Finally, thanks to lecturers!
Hamad Al-Mansour
Biotechnology programmer at Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research
Environmental Biotechnology 2018
The course is very intensive and the lecturers extremely qualified. The programme, very wide and detailed, is of great interest both for curious PhD students and wastewater professionals as it ranges from the very micro-scale of microbial biology to the full-scale system engineering issues. Though the class schedule is very tight, there is always room for social moments, so that the interactions with the professors and other colleagues definitely supports the educational objective of the programme. In addition to the high-quality academic experience, you can enjoy walking along the charming canals in Delft in spring time. I applied to the course because several colleagues recommended it to me as a fundamental boosting experience for my PhD work. So it was!
Cecilia Polizzi
PhD student at the University of Florence
Bioprocess Design 2018
I took the advanced course Bioprocess Design in March 2018 to refresh and deepen my knowledge about the application of biological processes in industry. It was an intense 1-week course that required a high level of basic knowledge about reactor design, transfer processes and economic aspects of biological processes. It was furthermore a great opportunity to meet and talk to experts in the field of applied biotechnology. The case study helped to apply the previously acquired skills and it was an interactive counterpart to a set of very interesting lectures. The organisation of the course left no room for improvement. I can recommend the course to anyone who wants to master the design of bioprocesses and who has an advanced level of background knowledge, high motivation and perception.
Christian Südfeld
PhD in Molecular Biotechnologist, Wageningen University
Environmental Biotechnology 2018
I applied this course to upgrade my knowledge on wastewater treatment as I have been working on this field for a long time. I found this intense two weeks course very interesting and engaging. This course broadened my knowledge and helped me realize the immense depth of this field. Teachers were experts on their respective fields and were eager to support in every problem. I recommend this course to anybody who is willing to build up a career on wastewater treatment. The program was organised very aptly. I had a wonderful time at Delft during the advanced course.
Nirmal Ghimire
PhD Research Fellow at University of Southeast Norway
Environmental Biotechnology 2018
I applied to the course for getting more knowledge of the fundamental basics behind all our processes in the wastewater treatment plant and to learn more about both the processes I work with and those I don´t. The course is a very good way to get in details in the biochemical processes involved in wastewater treatment, to see the limits and opportunities. The case study is a way to apply all the knowledge in full scale design. I recommend the course to those who works as process engineer and who wants to get into the details of engineering and of course for PhD-students. The city of Delft is really amazing, the lecturers are really professional, the building is new and nice and the coffee is excellent!
Emma Nivert
Process engineer at Ryaverket WWTP Gothenburg Sweden
Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering 2018
I applied to the Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering Advanced Course to deepen my knowledge in this area. Indeed, being an organic/organometallic chemist by training, I wanted to understand better the opportunities biocatalysis could provide as new toolbox for the synthesis of novel fragrance ingredients. The course very well lived up to my expectations: it showcased nicely the most important concepts as well as the most recent advancements in academia as well as industry. This allowed me to understand the state-of-the-art in Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering, as well as recent developments and potential future applications. I can only recommend this course to graduate students and industrial researchers alike wanting to incorporate biocatalysis in their project. I wanted to add further that I really appreciated the use of the Surface-tablets for the entire length of the course since it allowed to follow conveniently each lecture in a practical way, and taking home the notes of the course for future reference.
Julie Charpentier
Research Scientist in Fragrance Discovery, Givaudan
Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering 2018
Working in industry for a couple of years, I applied to the Advanced Course Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering, because I wanted to get insight into topics that are not directly related with my daily work. The intense course with expert lecturers from academia and industry definitely met my expectations. Most valuable for me was to see real examples for industrial applications of the learned theories. Thus, I can recommend the course not only to PhD students but also to participants from industry who want to broaden their horizon, refresh their memories, and especially create or extend a network with the international biocatalysis community.
Christian Gehring
Group Leader Bioprocess Development, Evonik Creavis GmbH
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2018
The aim of the course is clear: familiarize participants with the basic knowledge and good practices of fermentation processes and I attended because I wanted to have better insight into the topic which proved to be extremely useful. However, there is no specific target group for this course, participants included academics, students, industrial operators and managers of different companies, combined in an international environment. The course included intense lectures, exercises, demonstrations, lab tours, social events and even history lectures that provided us a holistic experience not only regarding fermentation processes but also concerning state-of-the-art researches and cutting-edge industrial applications on the field. On January 2018, we had the pleasure to attend the 30th edition.
Carlos E. Gomez Camacho
PhD Student Chemical Engineer, Politecnico di Torino
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2018
This course was exactly what I needed for my new position in a Microbiology lab dealing with fermentation technology, process optimization and microorganism engineering. All of these subjects were extensively discussed and I gained more knowledge than I could wish for. After the course I was eager to use the lessons learned and put some of it to practice. The best thing about the course are extremely motivated and knowledgeable lecturers, they really inspired me to learn and question the knowledge I had thus far. Equally great was the course organization, from the technical side (using tablets was quite neat) all the way to coffee breaks and a great selection of sweet treats which kept us going.
I would recommend this course to all the colleagues from academia and industry involved with fermentation technology, not only because of the first class course quality, but also because Delft is such a cozy and interesting place to spend 2 weeks at.
Adriana Lepur, PhD
Senior scientist, BICRO BioCentre
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2018
I applied to the course to gain a better theoretical understanding of fermentation. With minimal knowledge from university and 9 months of practical experience from an industrial plant the course was a perfect way to catch up on theory and my expectations were fully met. The course started from scratch with the basics of fermentation followed by lectures on many different topics, often with industrial applications. In between there were exercises, discussions and demos involving people from both industry and academia, which was great. I would recommend the course to anyone wandering into the world of fermentation technology. It offers a solid introduction with all the basic knowledge you will need, to set up and understand fermentation on both small and large scale.
Rasmus Utoft
Process Engineer, Novozymes Fermentation Kalundborg
Bioprocess Design 2017
For someone working in an industrial R&D department for natural flavour ingredients production, the course entitled “Advanced Bioprocess Design” was relevant for me. In particular the comprehensive presentation of stoichiometry and kinetics calculation and the strong focus on transport (-limitation) I found beneficial. The lectures were carefully selected with common topics running throughout the whole course. The course structure was pragmatic and always started with an easy introduction, followed by an explanation on how to derive process relevant parameters. During the course, interactive participation was helpful in further discussing the presented topics.
After covering most of the theory part, the course leaders formed groups to carry out a case study. In this exercise nearly all topics were reintroduced and after each work package results had to be reported by the groups in front of the course attendees. The most innovative and of course correct overall designed process was awarded by the Genomatica Prize.
I want to thank the course leaders also for the organization of a dinner in a beautiful local restaurant.
Overall I could refresh and deepen my knowledge about fermentation technology, the quantification of flow-rates and the scale-up / scale-down approach.
Omer Gil
Scientist, Givaudan
Environmental Biotechnology 2017
During the course, I acquired new information and exposure to methods especially in the areas of bacterial community profiling, bioenergetics, biofilms and resource recovery from wastewater. To be able to work on the long case studies with the assistance expert process designers was the best reason to travel to the pleasant and convenient city of Delft. The course is fast moving, covers many different relevant topics and is very well organized. I would recommend the course to environmental professionals who want to go deeper into the fundamentals of environmental microbiology and biotechnology from a process engineering perspective.
Mark Mccormick
Research assistant, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Western Switzerland
Environmental Biotechnology 2017
To further my development as a scientist, I identified the TU Delft post-graduate courses as they are highly recommended in my organisation. I chose the Environmental Biotechnology course as the themes not only align with my research project but also to the work we do at Biosciences. The lecturers are world class, and the research applies to real world applications. The case study was an excellent measure of knowledge gained, and to be applied. I can recommend the course to candidates with a sound engineering background and professionals working in the wastewater treatment sector. If you want to “up” your scientific game, this is certainly the course to attend. The city of Delft is beautiful, and I see myself returning here; be it for another TU Delft postgraduate course, or for a visit.
Monique Smit
Bioprocess Researcher, CSIR Biosciences, South Africa
Bioprocess Design 2017
The initial interest in the course was for improvement of my personal knowledge of bioprocessing for undergraduate teaching purposes. The bioprocess design course met and exceeded my expectations as it gave in-depth considerations of bioprocessing from an engineering perspective. Given that my background is in life sciences, some aspects were overwhelming but I feel that the benefits far outweighed feeling out of my depth at times. The technical knowledge that I gained from the highly knowledgeable course lecturers will continue to be of benefit to me over the long term. I find myself referring to the course material quite regularly.
I would highly recommend this course to anyone who works in the space of cell culture and protein production even if they are not looking to make industrial quantities because the bioprocess design course gives you a holistic idea of how both the upstream and downstream aspects influence the bioprocess. There is also an opportunity to explore the charming city of Delft and make some amazing friends and meet potential collaborators!
Kebaneilwe Lebani
Botswana International University of Science of Technology, Lecturer/Researcher
Bioprocess Design 2017
I have participated in the Advanced Course Bioprocessing Design course with the aim to enhance my knowledge of biotechnologies, and to understand how these differentiate from conventional engineering. The course was very insightful and comprehensive, perfectly combining theory and practical exercises. It was also beneficial in gaining insights into the market trends for application of biotechnologies in the coming years. The lecturers showed a great expertise of the various different bioprocesses. At the end, the acquired knowledge was tested in a very interesting case study that consisted of the design of a bioreactor for the production of 1,4 Butanediol.
Bárbara Hedler
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Senior Industry Officer
Bioprocess Design 2016
The course was very interesting and useful for me, and it meets up totally my expectations. One of the nicest parts of the course were the exercitation, because they give you a deeper understanding of the theory brains. I suggest this course to all people involves in biotechnology studies and research. Because I think that is can fulfil very well to process design approach (that’s totally missing in normal university courses) and can also counteract to the general idea that the biological systems are too complex to could not been studies in their details.
Alessandro Scardua
Novamont SA, Researcher
Downstream Processing
The course in Downstream Processing was within my PDEng programme. I was really interested on taking it because is an advantage to have in-depth knowledge in downstream processing for my future industrial career. Also, because this is a topic of my interest. The course fulfil my expectations; besides giving theory and lectures with excellent lecturers. It also complements with industrial experiences and applications. Another advantage is that you get to learn what is currently used in industry and the advantages/disadvantages of some technologies.
I will recommend the course to anyone, you will get the chance to improve your knowledge in this topic and also meet people from different countries and have very interesting and fun conversations.
Raquel Penagos Becquet
Delft University of Technology, PDEng Trainee Bioprocess Design, the Netherlands
Downstream Processing
I applied to this course to broaden my scientific skills in bioprocess technology. There was an effort to create a good mix of academic lectures, and industrial experiences, theoretical presentations and application exercises, all this in a very cheerful atmosphere. I must admit that I was now and then lost in the formulae, or not able to visualize how to solve the problem we were confronted to. Some syllabus or Binas type of booklet may have helped. Nevertheless, as far as I am concerned, the strongest asset of the course were the exercises, that were explained steps by step, with a great assistance of dedicated students. Learning by doing. This course would benefit from further increasing the practical part (more coached exercises, and more time for the case study).
Philippe Gaudin
DSM Biotechnology Center, Delft, the Netherlands
Downstream Processing
I applied for the Course Downstream Processing to get better understanding of the protein recovery and purification and give me inspiration for my daily work as an optimisation scientist for enzyme recovery. The course gives a broad overview of the different process there is used in the industry. There is good mixture in the lectures between fundamental theory, exercises and presentations by people working in the Biotech industry. What I found best about the course was all the input and good lectures from people working in the industry.
The downstream processing is a big field and it is not possible to go into all details. It could have been nice if the course had been split up in two separated courses a pharma and non-pharma processing part. It would have made it possible to go into more details.
The course is suited for engineers/ scientist working in the field of protein recovery that need to brush up on the basis knowledge and also get inspired from new ideas from people working in the field.
The city of Delft is an old charming city and a nice place to attend a week’s course.
Claus Riber
Novozymes A/S, Kalundborg, Denmark
Environmental Biotechnology 2016
I applied for this course in order to improve my knowledge on Environmental Biotechnology, especially the latest waste water treatment technology. This course has been intensive but really productive, with expert lectures and interesting discussions. Researchers from different universities were invited to give lectures on different topics, which helped us to gain better and deeper insight in biotechnology. I strongly recommend this course to PhD students in wastewater treatment or microbiology field.
Qingxian Su
Technical University of Denmark
Environmental Biotechnology 2016
After working for many years in scientific research directed towards a commercial process developments, I decided to update my knowledge that would help me better understand the practical considerations regarding design and scale-up. Choosing this particular course was not difficult as it was hearty recommended by my colleagues who attended it over the past years. Myself, I found the course met the expectations with a perfect balance of practical and theory. The course challenged me to creatively think about engineering problems within a waste water treatment and I felt it was very helpful and informative. I will definitely refer to the course handouts in my future work. The lecturers were incredibly experienced, knowledgeable, and happy to assist us. The course was very professionally organized thanks to which all the experience was cheerful and memorable. I would strongly recommend this course to the professionals in the field.
Lamija Karabegovic Veolia Water Technologies, Sweden
Environmental Biotechnology 2016
I applied to this course due to I wanted to get an input on how fundamental science is applied to biological treatments and also to obtain an update towards what is done today in water treatment within biotechnology. I found the course really intensive and compact in a great way, going from the basic fundamentals of environmental biotechnology to real engineering approach. Professors and lectures of high quality and good organization of the course structure itself. What I liked best of the course was the nice balance between lectures and exercises, and the enthusiasm of the teachers in relation to their topics and during discussions. The course definitively met my expectations and I went back to work inspired by updated and new knowledge. I would highly recommend this course to PhD students and/or Engineers interested on learning more about biotechnology applications within water treatment.
Paula Rojas Tirado Technichal University of Denmark
Downstream Processing
The downstream processing course at the TU Delft is the most useful course in this field I came across so far. The course excellently combines basic science with applied topics so that I can only fully recommend it for both practitioners and scientists on a higher level.
Prof. Juergen Hubbuch Professor and Head of the department of Biomolecular Separation Engineering, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany
Downstream Processing 2015
I enjoyed the Advanced Course Downstream Processing in Delft very much. The quality and quantity of information brought by outstanding speakers was astounding! As a fermentation specialist I was happy that the course included a solid review of the basics of downstream processing. The course broadened my knowledge with the state of the art purification. Many colleagues from our company already entered the course. Besides the famous Delft hard core calculations in the workshops the course was also a lot of fun.
Dr. Marcel Flikweert
Senior Scientist at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D, the Netherlands
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2016
I had the great pleasure to attend the advanced fermentation course in January 2016. Working with fermentation optimization in Novozymes, I wanted to strengthen my knowledge on fermentation technologies. Engaged and very enthusiastic world class lecturers delivering a thorough explanation of cell growth thermodynamics and kinetics added well up with lectures on metabolic engineering, industrial applications and talks putting everything into perspective, ensured that my expectations to the course were entirely fulfilled. The two weeks were well organized and highly intensive with a good mix of lectures, discussions, demos, excercises and even a historic introduction to the cosy city of Delft; a nice challenge I will recommend to anyone working with fermentation technologies or similar.
Britta Sevelsted Lauritzen
Fermentation Scientist, Novozymes A/S, Denmark
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2016
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2016
I applied to this advanced course to gain a deeper understanding at Microbial Physiology and insight into the most recent developments in this field. To this end I was completely satisfied in that, through talks given by world-renamed experts, a broad overview of both the physiological and engineering aspects was provided. Despite my previously related academic experiences derived through my chemical engineering background, the exceptionally high standard at teaching still made for an engaging and intensely through-providing course. I would recommend this course to both academics and industrial professionals in biotechnology who wish to gain exposure and decided content surrounding Microbial Physiology or Fermentation Technologies.
Murray Meissner
PhD, Technical University of Denmark
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2016
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2016
As a chemical process engineering in the pharmaceutical industry, I mainly have been working on projects which are based on organic chemistry and process technology. Just recently I got involved in a fermentation process project. This opened up a whole new fascinating world for me, but I was not fully capable of communication with colleagues at the same level of understanding. This course has provided me with a broad and in-depth knowledge on biotechnology and related topics at expert level. Antoni van Leeuwenhoek – the pioneer of microbiology some 300 years ago – can be proud of his successors!!
Walter van Weert
Chemical Process Engineer, Aspen Pharma
Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology 2016
I attended the advanced course Microbial Physiology and Fermentation Technology to enhance the knowledge of yeast fermentation kinetics and metabolite fluxes. This course provides fundamental to cutting-edge knowledge from metabolic engineering to multi scale-up process design. I enjoyed the positive energy from the enthusiastic lecturers and great interactive conversations. I highly recommend this course to metabolic engineers, application scientists, and all my co-workers who are interested in learning the art of fermentation.
Yin-Ying ChiuApplication Biochemist, at Mascoma LLC, USA
Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering 2016
This course was within my PhD program and it as a great opportunity to improve my background in (bio)chemistry and also to learn a lot about biocatalysis field. We had contact not only with expertises in academia area but also in industry, which it was very important for us, as students, to have both opinions and research presented.
The course was very well organised; lectures, practical course and also the social part. The last one was an important part to develop on high and good network. It’s always good to share science, I strongly recommend this course to PhD students in biocatalysis field.
Raquel Sofia Coerria Cordeira
PhD Student, Ruhr University of Bochum
Bioprocess Design 2016
The course provide the required insight in the fundamentals of cell culture and fermentor design which I will need for my new position. A mixture of technical lectures, exercises and group discussions/exchange of experiences makes that this course is very valuable for everybody who wants to learn the basis for bioprocess design.
Jeroen Janssens
Associate Principle Scientist, MSD
Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering 2016
I applied to the course to gain better and deeper insight in the field of biocatalysis, especially in the use of enzymes on industrial scale and protein engineering. The course has been intense but really productive, with expert lecturers and really interesting topics and discussions. The international environment and the chance to meet other people actively involved in this field was a further upside of the course. I would recommend the advanced course Biocatalysis to PhD students and young scientist willing to combine a highly training course with enjoyable social events. All in a same and characteristic Dutch location.
Federica Ruggieri
PhD Student, Saromics Biostructures AB/KTH
Bioprocess Design 2016
I applied this course in order to improve my knowledge on fermentation and scale up – scale down aspects. This course is well defined mixing practical exercise and theoretical teaching. Also the background of the attendee is quite well mixed with engineer biologist so that they can share their experiences and insight of problem involved in the bioprocess design. I really recommend this course to whom is ever willing to have a better understanding of bioprocesses designs and all the related topics.
Antonio G. Cardillo
Scientist, GSK Vaccines
