The course treats Industrial Biotechnology from feedstock to fermentation to product. The MOOC students learn about the science and technology of industrial biotechnology as well as of the social, environmental and economic aspects.
A central case, the production of the compound 1,3-propanediol, and cases on the production of biopharmaceuticals, food ingredients and bioethanol, connect theory with practice. The course contains recorded lectures, assignments, and a forum for live interaction.
Industrial Biotechnology is led by five course leaders from Delft: professors Isabel Arends, Patricia Osseweijer, Sef Heijnen, Henk Noorman and Luuk van der Wielen. From UNICAMP, professors Luis Cortez, Arnaldo Walter and Joaquim Seabra provide the example of bioethaniol production. Roberto Werneck from the company Braskem in Brazil, discusses plastic production from sugar cane. Mickel Jansen (DSM), Mark van Loosdrecht and Henk Jonkers (Delft University of Technology) and Chris Paddon (Amyris), provide further examples of industrial biotechnology.
In each run of this free course, close to 10.000 students from around the world have participated, of which over 300 passed annually.
