Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 | 10 AM–3:30 PM ET
Maryland – Montgomery College, Germantown Campus
20200 Observation Dr, Germantown, MD 20876
Bioscience Education BE151-152
Join us for a FREE IN-PERSON ONLY networking & learning event with industry pros, end users, and partners.
View our event terms & conditions
Professor and Director at Center for Advanced Sensor Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus
Govind Rao is a Professor of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), where he has been a faculty member since 1987 and served as Department Chair from 2000–2006. He earned his B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and his Ph.D. from Drexel University.
In 2006, he founded UMBC’s Center for Advanced Sensor Technology (CAST) and continues to serve as its Director. His research focuses on disruptive innovation in sensor technology, particularly in low-cost devices for healthcare and point-of-care biomanufacturing. Dr. Rao has published over 200 papers, received funding from major organizations including NSF, NIH, DARPA, and the Gates Foundation, and holds several patents.
His many honors include the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, the University System of Maryland Regents Award for Excellence in Research, the Gaden and Van Lanen Awards, and election as a Fellow of the AAAS. He currently serves as Editor of the PDA Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology and as an American Chemical Society Media Expert.
Senior Scientist, Upstream Vaccine Process Development, MERCK
Graduate Student in Biotechnology, Northeastern University, IDEXX Internship
Nicole Carolina Foronda was born in Bolivia and moved to the United States to pursue her higher education. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology from Northeastern University in 2023 and is currently completing her Master of Science in Biotechnology at Northeastern, with a concentration in Molecular Biotechnology and Biodefense.
At present, Nicole is completing a co-op at IDEXX, where she is gaining hands-on industry experience in biotechnology applications. Her academic and professional journey has provided her with a strong background in molecular biology, cell culture, and protein chemistry, as well as technical skills in data analysis tools such as Python, Linux, and JMP. Previously, she served as a Biomanufacturing Apprenticeship Teaching Assistant at MassBioEd, where she instructed laboratory principles and bioprocessing techniques to new industry professionals.
In addition to her academic and professional pursuits, Nicole has presented scientific lectures at international conferences in Bolivia, including keynote sessions on scientific writing and research methodology. Her interests lie at the intersection of biotechnology, biodefense, and molecular innovation, with a passion for bridging scientific discovery and practical application to improve global health.
Principal Engineer, Cell Culture Sciences, MacroGenics
Dr. Abasha Williams is a Senior Scientist at MacroGenics where she leads a group specializing in cell culture process development and technology transfer. She holds a PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University and has previously held positions at the FDA and the NIH Vaccine Research Center. With over 10 years of experience, Abasha is dedicated to developing innovative solutions for bioprocessing challenges.
Through informative presentations and live, hands-on demonstrations.
Interact with technologies from ProAnalytics, 4BioCell, ABER, Securecell, Aero-Yield, and Tornado-Bruker.
Network with local industry professionals, end users, and partners.
This complimentary in-person event in Maryland at Montgomery College – Germantown Campus brings together experts, end-users, and technology leaders to share strategies for implementing data-driven, scalable solutions in modern bioprocessing.
Following the presentations, enjoy hands-on opportunities to explore the equipment and connect with peers. Enjoy a light complimentary breakfast and BBQ lunch buffet as you network with presenters and fellow professionals.
View our event terms & conditions
Shake flasks have not evolved much since their invention by Erlenmeyer in 1860. The original glass version has been largely replaced by plastic ones. Although their limitations for oxygen transfer were well known, the only improvements that have been made are the inclusion of baffles and more permeable materials for the closures.
As a result, despite being arguably the most widely used class of bioreactors due to their simplicity, they have been limited in their capability. Our disruptive innovation is to replace the entire rigid surface material with a breathable one, thereby resulting in immediate gains of 40% biomass and 115% recombinant protein yields.
In addition, the diffusible surface enables true non-invasive monitoring of oxygen and CO2, providing real-time respiration data. These advances pave the way for using simple shake flasks and their enormous installed user base to power machine learning and artificial intelligence applications and enable bioprocess development 4.0 and beyond.
Govind Rao – Professor and Director, Center for Advanced Sensor Technology, UMBC
Single-use bioreactors are increasingly preferred by industry for mammalian cell culture processes. However, standard single-use bioreactor bags still require the sterilization and installation of probes. This manipulation requires additional time to autoclave and prepare the probes and adds risk during the installation step.
Advancements in single-use probe technology eliminate these time-consuming steps and reduce process risk, achieving the goal of a completely closed, single-use process. In addition to pH and DO probes commonly used with bioreactors, capacitance probes are providing additional valuable insights by continuously capturing data that can be related to cell health and culture performance.
This work compares the stainless-steel ABER capacitance probe to the single-use Neo probe in a 50L Thermo Scientific Single-Use bioreactor for a CHO process. Models comparing the capacitance signals at several frequencies demonstrate comparability between the two probes. Additionally, offline cell density and viability values were correlated to the capacitance to create models for cell growth and to reduce sampling burden.
Victoria Stabile – Senior Scientist, Upstream Vaccine Process Development, MERCK
This study compares the performance of the 4BioCell Count Pro with two existing cell counters used at IDEXX Laboratories to assess its accuracy and reliability. Using CHO and HEK cell lines, results showed strong overall correlation among instruments, with minor variability linked to cell type and morphology. The 4BioCell Counter produced consistent and reproducible measurements, demonstrating its potential as a dependable, automated tool for high-throughput cell counting at IDEXX.
Nicole Foronda Quiton – Graduate Student in Biotechnology, Northeastern University, IDEXX Internship
In the digital age, advanced software like Lucullus is crucial for improving efficiency and data integration in the biopharmaceutical industry. This talk will cover our journey with Lucullus, which has eliminated data silos and centralized data access, enhancing process analysis. We’ll discuss the challenges and benefits of implementing Lucullus features, such as automatic data capture, recipe building for automated bioreactor control, and automated metabolic rate calculations for mechanistic modeling.
Abasha Williams – Principle Engineer, Cell Culture Sciences, MacroGenics
This complimentary symposium is brought to you by ProAnalytics and Aber Instruments.
The Scalable Bioprocessing Symposium takes place in the Bioscience Education Center (BE) on the Montgomery College Germantown Campus (20200 Observation Drive, Germantown, MD 20876).
Free parking is available for attendees in Lot 3 (student parking area, white-lined spaces) directly across from the BE building. You must print and display the free parking permit on your driver’s-side dashboard while parked — vehicles without the permit may be ticketed.
From I-270, take Exit 15 East (Route 118), continue to the second traffic light at Observation Drive, turn right onto campus, then proceed to the second stop sign. Turn right into Lot 3, then left toward the globe sculpture to park.
For additional guidance, please see the linked PDFs below:
Dec. 9, 2025 from 10am–3:30pm ET at the Montgomery College Germantown Campus
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