Biomanufacturing program – Faculty of Engineering

Master of Engineering in Biomanufacturing

Are you interested in a career in biomanufacturing? Do you have a passion to change the landscape of medicine through vaccine and cell therapy development?

The 1st of its kind in Canada

The Biomanufacturing graduate program offered at McMaster University is the first academic program of its kind in Canada in an effort to develop a biomanufacturing ecosystem.

The program trains science and technology graduates for high demand leadership roles in this vitally important and rapidly expanding field.

The innovative graduate program combines a foundation in biomanufacturing, bioprocessing, and biopharmaceutical theory with experiential learning in many areas, including cGMP manufacturing, regulatory affairs and biocatalysis.

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Why biomanufacturing?

Manufacturing is fundamental in making the lives of Canadians better and is critical in increasing the overall value of a society.

Biomanufacturing is the common operation that connects the many different market sectors of the global biotechnology industry together. This diverse field encompasses the massive production scales of the liquid biofuels industry at one end, to the highly regulated cell therapy and biopharmaceutical industry at the other.

Biotechnology companies throughout Ontario use living cells to produce enzymes, medicines, and amino acids for diagnostic purposes. This improves lives, creates jobs, and increases the economy. The process of using living cells to create products is called biomanufacturing or bioprocessing.

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Red and white flowers blooming on campus

Curriculum

The interdisciplinary curriculum includes academic courses in science and business, along with professional training through case study projects.

The program also includes professional skills training in effective oral, electronic, and written communications for futures in both technical and business careers. Biomanufacturing students will develop and run live upstream and downstream bioprocessing projects to completion, using industry-standard equipment in a simulated cGMP environment.

These projects will provide an insight in advanced cell therapeutics, novel vaccine design and large-scale production, as well as in the standardization of biomanufacturing processes

Contact us

Application inquiries

Email: wbooth@mcmaster.ca

Phone: 905-525-9140 ext. 20477

Program chair, BTech Biotechnology

Dr. Fei Geng

gengf@mcmaster.ca

Watch the program information session

What our community is saying

  • “Traditionally Canada and Ontario have been strong on supporting research and training scientists. Good Canadian ideas and research then moved offshore for product development and manufacturing. This reality hit Governments hard in 2020 when it was realized that Canada did not have the capability to manufacture products to address the COVID pandemic. Today, the table is set for growth of capabilities in advanced product development, scale-up and manufacturing so that Canada has the capability to meet its own needs for biopharmaceutical products…and to supply the world. As a biopharmaceutical company executive, I have long wished for access to new employees that are trained in product development, manufacturing methodologies and applicable regulation. Such training would make new staff members productive in a fraction of the time it takes for a traditionally trained scientist. The McMaster Biomanufacturing Stream program is poised to fill that gap.”

    Kevin Cassidy, Biotech Industry Executive with Pharma, Vaccine and Medical Device experience

  • “Biomanufacturing is at the forefront of modern technology and is revolutionizing everything from cancer treatment to renewable fuels. The Masters of Engineering in Biomanufacturing program is a given for me and future candidates as it’s the first program in Canada that will prepare myself and others to lead this revolutionizing sector through learning from industry experts and hands on research opportunities. Biomanufacturing is undeniably doing ground breaking work in facing several global challenges such as global warming, sustainability and climate change. As the future of technology and innovation progresses, Biomanufacturing will undoubtedly play a vital role in the enhancement of several processes and applications.”

    Taran Atwal, Prospective Student

A growing industry

During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ontario was in a perilous position, which forced them to depend on external sources to supply critical goods, mainly the mRNA vaccines produced by American companies Moderna and Pfizer. The lack of innovation in the Ontario health care sector was also seen.

Although Ontario, along with the rest of Canada, was ill-prepared for dealing with the pandemic, the lack of infrastructure and innovation was not always the case. Canada has an impressive history which can be seen from the hundred year-old discovery of insulin to the scientists who were essential in the development of polio and ebola vaccines. In order to have the ability to manufacture our own vaccines and develop innovative solutions, the biomanufacturing sector needs to be built correctly. A biomanufacturing ecosystem in Ontario requires engagement from academic, investor and industry networks to survive and grow

Your future career

The Taking Biomanufacturing & Life Sciences to the Next Level strategy is a government investment initiative to establish Ontario as a global biomanufacturing and life sciences hub leading in the development and commercialization of innovative health products and services.

The main goal of the initiative is to maintain and grow Ontario’s biomanufacturing and life sciences sector by 25% from 66,000 jobs in 2020 to 85,000 jobs in 2030. This will be achieved by a $2.2 billion investment over a 7-year period.

A new $580 million research and manufacturing centre is being built at the McMaster Innovation Park, as a part of the government initiative. Home to a subsidiary of CCRM, OmniaBio, the new Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) for Cell and Gene Therapies (CGTs) facility will be used to work on cures for cancer, cardiovascular and Parkinson’s disease, as well as diabetes. The new facility is expected to create 2000 new, full-time jobs by 2026.

The American-based biotechnology company, Moderna, will be building a manufacturing facility in Canada to produce mRNA vaccines. Expected to be completed by 2024, the new facility will be a vaccine manufacturing hub. 

Frequently asked questions

A big part of this program is developing industry partners and making sure students have that co-op industry experience so that when you graduate, you’re not just graduating with courses or the knowledge of a thesis, but you are graduating with that hands-on experience which is really important. The difference between the thesis-based and course-based masters program is mainly the scope. For the thesis-based program, you would spend two years focusing on a very narrow topic, such as the expression of one specific protein in one specific type of E. coli. In this course-based program, you will be introduced to many different aspects throughout the process of biomanufacturing, which will be combined with real world training through co-op opportunities. 

A lot of undergraduate students wonder what they should do with their career moving forward, should they continue their education by enrolling in a masters program or should they find a job to make money and gain experience before ultimately having to drop their job and go back to full-time school. The whole idea of the Biomanufacturing Graduate Program is to be delivered on a flexible schedule, helping to cope with the uncertainties of the job market in the future. With this flexible program, industry professionals are still able to keep their job on a part-time basis and take the required courses to complete the program. Our academic advisors are here to help you navigate though the different options available to create a customized plan which is the best plan for you.

The hands-on component is super important as it provides students with the necessary skills and experience to complete tasks they will encounter within the industry. Another benefit of the hands-on courses is the ability to understand the trouble-shooting process. The more experience you have with lab equipment, for example a bioreactor, the more you know the ins and outs of the equipment, the more you know how best to troubleshoot. This enables you to work through an unexpected/undesired result obtained during process development using a methodical approach to dissect the problem, which can only be done if you understand what you are doing. 

Our industrial partners are very good. The whole structure of our curriculum was developed so that the components and products such as bioreactor culture for IPSE or viral production are deeply rooted into the hands-on and theory courses. I think a lot of the training is already done from the courses, not only in the background but the understanding of the product including how to develop the entire process of a product that is demanded by the client. Each different aspect is introduced by our industrial partner, and the examples taught in the courses will be directly reflected in your future industry experiences. 

The whole idea for this program is to open the doors to biologists and engineers as well. No matter if you major in mechanical engineering, material engineering or life sciences, we open the door for you because the curriculum was designed for multidisciplinary students. One of the features of our classroom is there are a lot of students working with each other, collaborating on projects and case studies. That is advantageous because you have the ability to work with others that have different backgrounds. 

Yes. An MEng in Chemical Engineering can certainly apply to this program. This is actually a very good fit for your background. Biomanufacturing requires a lot of basic concepts from chemical and biochemical engineering.