Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD -- When the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC) expanded the size and capabilities of its biomanufacturing hub at its Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, research campus, they realized that in order to get the most out of the expanded facility it was necessary to provide opportunities to educate their partners and stakeholders on biomanufacturing techniques and capabilities. A key partner chosen to achieve this was the Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Process Development Unit (ABPDU) based at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The ABPDU’s mission is to speed up the commercialization of advanced, next-generation biofuels, biochemicals and other bioproducts. Together, ABPDU and the Center developed a training program to share its knowledge of biomanufacturing with researchers across the Department of Defense (DoD).
This upskilling, collaboration-building process is aimed at ultimately benefiting the warfighters by securing the supply chain they depend on. “The products we’re targeting through biomanufacturing ultimately help to secure the domestic supply chain and thus ensure we’re able to support warfighter readiness. DoD’s biomanufacturing priorities have been identified with warfighter’s needs in mind, both domestically and abroad,” said Dr. Jessica Paradysz, one of two DEVCOM CBC research biologists spearheading the program.
In October 2023, Paradysz and DEVCOM CBC research biologist Dr. Nathan McDonald, traveled to the ABPDU in Emeryville, California, to help shape a curriculum of both virtual and in-person classroom components covering such biomanufacturing topics as technology transfer, technoeconomic analysis, downstream processing, bioprocess optimization, and fermentation scale-up. Perhaps the most important part of the curriculum, according to Paradysz and McDonald, was developing a common language for biomanufacturing that could be used across the Army, Navy and Air Force to effectively communicate in this highly specialized field.
“Each of the DoD services has its own skill set. We developed the course to make sure that scientists and engineers across the tri-services have the same understanding of biomanufacturing equipment capabilities,” said McDonald. “We also wanted to teach participants how to transition from microbes produced in very small quantities at the research level to 1,000+ liter biomass batches for industry to use at commercial scale.” The biomanufacturing course that resulted from Paradysz and McDonald’s effort was, in essence, a full semester course on bioprocessing, currently taught at the University of California at Berkeley, condensed to two weeks and tailored to support the DoD’s needs.
The ultimate goal of this collaborative effort is to create a community of biomanufacturing researchers across the tri-services that encourages active research collaboration and sharing of lessons learned. As Paradysz put it, “If you take this course, you will understand how to effectively communicate with customers and collaborators about biomanufacturing and appreciate the importance of optimizing bioprocesses.”
Creating this course was unlike anything Paradysz and McDonald had ever done before. “Designing this course has much more impact than producing a report or written deliverable for a customer,” said McDonald. “This program will improve biomanufacturing across the tri-services. In fact, attendees who took the virtual course kept saying, ‘I never knew much about the topics we’re covering, now I really want to take the in-person part of this program.’” The first training was completed in fall 2024 with more than 60 DoD participants. In 2025, the Bioprocess Upskilling Program will offer an additional round of virtual and in-person training opportunities. With each new round of courses, comes an expansion in the number of DoD scientists and engineers with a high-level knowledge of biomanufacturing and bioprocess optimization.
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The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM, is Army Futures Command’s leader and integrator within a global ecosystem of scientific exploration and technological innovation. DEVCOM expertise spans eight major competency areas to provide integrated research, development, analysis and engineering support to the Army and DOD. From rockets to robots, drones to dozers, and aviation to artillery, DEVCOM innovation is at the core of the combat capabilities American Warfighters need to win on the battlefield of the future. For more information, visit devcom.army.mil.
The DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center is the primary DOD technical organization for non-medical chemical and biological defense. The DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center fosters research, development, testing and application of technologies for protecting our military from chemical and biological warfare agents. The Center possesses an unrivaled chemical biological defense research and development infrastructure staffed by a highly-trained, multidisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, technicians and specialists located at four different sites in the United States: Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland; Pine Bluff Arsenal, Arkansas; Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois; and Dugway Proving Ground, Utah.
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