Stockton Sixth Form College and Prior Pursglove students had a visit to FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB) at Billingham, as the first step of a new STEM Enrichment programme.
The students from both colleges who are currently studying Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Computer Science based subjects, are part of a new initiative that aims to educate our young people on future technologies and the employability skills which are required to secure their future careers.
Working with Professor Raymond Oliver, a college Governor, and the team at FDB, we were treated to a full day visit with talks, tours and a fun activity.
The students learned about the values of FDB and how these values are embedded into their day-to-day workings. FDB representatives spoke about their processes from initial conception with their customers to patents, quality checks, audit trails and ultimately manufacturing the products.
The students heard about microbial development, cell cultures and cell line development and got to explore several labs and observe the technology in use. This was not only fascinating, but helped the students appreciate the importance of the work that is undertaken locally on this expanding site and the wealth of opportunities that will be available to them in the future.
FUIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies recently invested £400m into expanding its Billingham site and currently employs more than 1000 staff. This expansion is expected to create another 350 highly-skilled jobs once complete and judging by the reactions of our students yesterday, we look forward to seeing how many of them have been inspired to join them.
Many thanks to the team at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies for hosting a brilliant day.
