Biotechnology Program at San Diego City College in San Diego, CA: Industry and Academia Partnering to Deliver Rewarding and Informative Educational Experiences in the Biotechnology Field

The Biotechnology Program at San Diego City College is a program where students are taught by instructors that are currently in industry. The Industrial Instructors bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the classroom but the learning goes beyond the classroom. Many of the sessions are hosted in different industrial locations in and around the San Diego area allowing the students to experience what working in an industrial lab is all about. The students also have access to state of the art equipment at the Industrial sites that they would normally not have access to at the college. The students are also a very key part of the program and the screening process for admittance into the program is considered selective and it shows in that the program has a very high percentage job placement record in industry. The students and the instructors are both dedicated to learning and teaching respectively and many past students come back to the classroom to teach. It will be discussed how industry is partnering with academia to deliver a timely and relevant course to meet the needs of the industry.

Acknowledgements:

Special thanks to David Singer who heads the Biotechnology Program at San Diego City College. He challenges his students to follow their dreams and also makes sure they have fun following those dreams, working hard for student placement into the workforce.

Thanks to the many students that have gone through the Biotechnology Program at San Diego City College since the early 1990s!