(130e) Design and Analysis of a Sars-Cov-2 Vaccine Facility in a Remote Learning Format

We present here a novel case study for senior ChE capstone design project, where students work in groups remotely with very limited virtual instruction to design a manufacturing facility for one of four SARS-CoV-2 vaccine products. Each group of 3-4 students presented via PowerPoint and MS Teams on their progress four times and lead three formal meetings (also via MS Teams). There were 4 different products assigned to groups (either Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca, or Johnson & Johnson) as well as a specification for the facility bioreactors to be SIP/CIP or fully disposable. Student work product aside from oral presentations included three memos (summaries of what they communicated to their “supervisor” in meetings) and a written report with technical descriptions of their proposed facility, with emphasis on the economics, environmental impact, and safety. Students produced their batch process Gantt charts and flowsheets (which utilized bioreactors fermenting E. coli, HEK393A, or PER.C6 cells) in SuperPro Designer or MS Excel.