Development and Market Analysis of an Educational Mini-Bioreactor

With a wide range of applicability, the industry of biotechnology has seen strong growth in recent years. The development and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and biofuels heavily relies on fermentation bioreactors. Methods have been developed to grow cells like Escherichia coli, yeast, and algae to produce products that benefit man-kind. Therapeutic proteins can be grown in large amounts in E. coli cells, and biofuels can easily be made with algae. Despite the importance of this class of equipment to the production processes, little has been done in the classroom to provide instructors with tools to teach students how to use these reactors. While many schools have begun to incorporate the principles of fermentation into the curriculum, it can be difficult and costly to teach fermentation as a hands-on laboratory experience. This has created a vacuum, where new graduates have the intellect to succeed but have no experience with the process requirements of fermentation. Seacoast Science of Carlsbad California hopes to fill this noticeable void in the educational system by offering a mini-bioreactor which can be used in a classroom laboratory setting to teach students about the fermentation process.\ud Under the direction of Dr. Geoff Landis of Seacoast Science, students from California State San Marcos have worked to develop educational mini-bioreactors and an accompanying marketing plan. The developmental aspect of the project focused on the fermentation module itself. By using their proprietary sensor technology to monitor the critical process parameters inside each bioreactor, Seacoast Science has the ability to create mini-bioreactors at low prices. The ability to minimize cost makes these units the ideal scale and price for an educational venue. The aim of this project is to develop and market an affordable, compact system for use in the classroom environment. This paper\ud discusses the background information relevant to this product, outlines the product development that took place, and the market analyses that highlights the unique selling points of the product. The success\ud of this project could impact future minds of the increasingly important biotechnology industry.Biotechnolog