WET LAB AND STARTUP BUSINESS INCUBATOR

FEBRUARY 2020

BOOTS AND BATS SCIENCE KIDS DAY

We had such fun hosting a Mad Wizard science experience for 6 twelve-year olds and a couple of their moms. The Bioscience Incubator, along with the Mad Wizard herself, ACC’s own Kathryn Naughton got silly and sciencey on a Saturday afternoon and made elephant toothpaste, froze bubbles and girl scout cookies and put all kinds of crazy things into the microwave. Lucky for us, Kathryn knows, not only what will make people go ‘wow’, but can also explain the science behind those things. She asked for predictions on what would happen (hypotheses) and everyone agreed that the Thin Mints would freeze and shatter best.

CONGRATULATIONS SOWJANYA!

We would like to congratulate our former Lab Technician Intern, Sowjanya Guthula! She accepted the Manufacturing Technician – GMP Upstream position with Molecular Templates, Inc. on January 13, 2020! Sowjanya began her internship with ABI in August 2018 and received her Advanced Technical Certificate in Biotechnology from ACC. Molecular Templates is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of differentiated, targeted, biologic therapeutics for cancer. Sowjanya, we are so very happy for you and wish you the very best!

MEET OUR INTERNS

Tina Arms is a native Austinite and a student at ACC. She decided to return to school and to figure out what to do for the rest of her life after starting a family at a young age.

A native Texan, Elizabeth (Liz) Hampton, was born and raised around the DFW Metroplex recently moved to Austin to attend ACC where she hopes to transfer to the University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 2020.

Benjamin (Ben) Martin moved to Austin in 2012 from Corpus Christi. He was raised, along with his brother and sister, by a single mother who always believed in the importance of education.

ANN RICHARDS SCHOOL FOR YOUNG WOMEN LEADERS

Pictured from left to right: Maria Noonan and Madison Mueller both students atAnn Richards School for Young Women Leaders and Emily Carpenter of EQO.

Environmental Quality Operations (EQO), a start-up company focusing on the extermination of zebra mussels through a chimeric protein, offered a week-long internship for high school students, Madison Mueller and Maria Noonan, from Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders. The purpose of this collaboration was to give the interns professional experience, as well as to see how a research lab functions. Madison and Maria both gained real world on-hand experiences by applying those skills acquired to the concepts learned in school. The exposure to working in a lab for both Maria and Madison was not only eye-opening but for Maria, she personally found her passion -- working in the lab.

ABI gave a tour to a group from Kazakhstan visiting the United States under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program for the University Partnerships Kazakhstan Project. We were very honored to have been given this wonderful opportunity to show our facility to the group and to also discuss with them how we work with startup companies in the life science and biotech industry.

"Nothing in life is to be feared,it is only to be understood.Now is the time to understand more,so that we may fear less."

  -- Marie Curie