Course: Industrial Microbiology, Micr 713 4(2,4) F
Current Instructor: William R. Gibbons
Course Objectives:
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Lecture: Industrial microbiology provides students with an advanced
understanding of the concepts and applications of how microbes are used
to produce valuable products. The course builds upon a student's knowledge
of microbial physiology, metabolism, genetics, and biochemistry, integrating
these topics with the applied concepts of industrial microbiology. The
course is organized to follow the steps typically required to bring a new
product to market (i.e., microbial enrichment, isolation, screening, and
selection; strain improvement; fermentation methods; fermentor design;
instrumentation; sterilization; downstream processing and product recovery;
quality control; and patenting and legal aspects). Commercially important
microbial processing operations are used to illustrate these topics.
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Laboratory: The laboratory is an integral part of the course, as
it provides students with practical hands-on experiences with a diverse
range of industrial microbiology applications under "real world" conditions.
Most laboratory exercises are organized as investigative projects conducted
by teams of students. This familiarizes the students with the scientific
method since they are required to review the literature, formulate hypotheses,
prepare a research proposal, design experiments, conduct the research,
and report on their findings. The use of groups also reinforces the concept
of team-based research and development, which they will encounter after
graduation. To further support this concept, field trips are taken to commercial
facilities which utilize industrial microbiology processes.
Placement in Curriculum: Industrial Microbiology is a graduate level
elective which can only be taken by M.S. or Ph.D. students. It requires
a firm background in the concepts and skills acquired in general microbiology,
microbial physiology, and molecular and microbial genetics. Therefore,
the majority of students in Industrial Microbiology are either in the Microbiology
or Dairy Science graduate programs. Periodically, however, students from
disciplines such as Agricultural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Nutrition
and Food Science, Plant Science, and Animal Science may take the course
if their research interests overlap with some area of industrial microbiology.
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