LSSI Celebrates Fifth Consecutive Year
The BIOCOM Institute and the San Diego Workforce Partnership are excited to announce the start of the fifth consecutive year of the Life Sciences Summer Institute (LSSI) student internship program and teacher externship program. Thanks to the support of our local industry partners; the Amgen Foundation, Biogen Idec Foundation, Genentech, Gen-Probe, Life Technologies, Pfizer Foundation, and the Southern California Biotech Center at Miramar College (SCBC), the LSSI program is continuing its success this summer in the absence of federal grant funding.
Over thirty students countywide participated in the Introduction to the Biotech Lab "Boot Camp," held at the SCBC and concurrently at Grossmont College.
The program helps high school students prepare for summer internships at local biotech companies and research institutions. Throughout the one-week boot camp, the students refine their lab skills using the AMGEN-Bruce Wallace Biotechnology Laboratory Curriculum. The curriculum is designed to parallel some of the important steps the biotechnology industry uses to create novel therapeutic proteins and develop products. In addition, industry volunteers join the students to discuss the importance of soft skills such as effective communication, workplace expectations, and teamwork in their future careers.
These students from area high schools will be going on to work at research institutes including: Burnham Institute for Medical Research, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, The Scripps Research Institute and Salk Institute for Biological Studies. To date, the LSSI program has trained and placed over 200 students. If you would like more information regarding the LSSI or having your company host students or teachers or for other ways to get involved, please contact biotech@workforce.org.
Cal State Fullerton Tech Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Course Wants Industry Participation
Cal State Fullerton Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Course will run from July 13 - August 14 at the new Mihaylo College of Business building at the Fullerton campus and needs industry participation.
Fullerton needs volunteers from high tech industries to help in the following areas:
- Industry projects for the student teams to work on dealing with assessing the commercial viability of products in the early stages of development.
- Mentors who have experience in new product development and can advise the student teams as they work on their final project.
- Professionals willing to serve on a panel of judges who score the final presentations on Tuesday, August 12, from 6p.m. to 9p.m.
- Guest speakers to talk about a wide range of activities (innovation in existing companies, personal stories of successes and failures in new product development, starting a high-tech firm, intellectual property, venture capital, and so on).
If you are interested in supporting this program please contact: Wayne D. Jones, Ph.D. at wdjones@Exchange.FULLERTON.EDU
Presentation Tips from 2Connect
Presentation AdvantEdge - Presented by the BIOCOM Institute and
2Connect
July 28, 2009: 8:30-5:00pm
Location: BIOCOM
2Connect and BIOCOM are once again teaming together to provide our one-day, Presentation AdvantEdge workshop geared toward the life sciences industry. Companies such as Cardinal Health, Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Vertex have benefited from this customized program. The next hands-on training session will be held on Tuesday, July 28th from 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM at BIOCOM. Click here for more information or to register.
We don't all think alike. This fact can contribute to one of the most challenging assignments for you as a presenter -- to deliver a slide deck that you did not create yourself. In the world of business, we are often handed a set of slides and asked to deliver them - with confidence! If the prospect of this makes your brow sweat, below are a few tips to quickly make this type of presentation your own. Crystallize the single, core message you want to communicate with the presentation. Do the work ahead of time to determine the overall core message and then use the slides to reinforce that message. It will give you, and the slide deck, direction. Plan out how YOU will open before you get to the first slide. Presenters, not slides, should start a compelling presentation. Consider addressing these questions before you hit slide one:
- How will you engage your audience?
- What is the single, core message
they should
take from the presentation?
- Why should they care?
-
What do you want them to do at the end of the
presentation?
- Communicate the core message for each slide. Your gift as a presenter is to net out key messages. Spend time clarifying the message for each slide and why it's important to your audience.
- Use your own examples. You most likely have been asked to present on this topic because of your depth of knowledge. Let your expertise shine through with the examples you share.
- Plan out your transitions between slides... and say them before advancing to the next slide. The quickest way to make it look like you created the presentation is to find a way to link one slide to the next. Because of this, transitions are worth scripting out.
- Close like you opened. Black out the screen (hit the "B" button), move to the center of the room and conclude like you started: re-engage the audience, restate the core message, why it is important to your audience and what you would like them to do.
Use these tips and, before you know it, the presentation will feel like your own. For more information and to register click: http://www.biocom.org/event/presentationadvantedge/
Mobile Science Lab for Students-You can help make a reality
The Venter Institute, BIOCOM Institute and Life Technologies look to recruit philanthropic support to build two DiscoverGenomics! Mobile Laboratory (science lab on wheels) for Southern California. We anticipate that these mobile labs will attract participation from at least 14 middle schools, educate a minimum of 1,000 middle school students on the latest and technological techniques while training 14 teachers in its first year of operation.
Many have heard science education has been under national scrutiny for many years. Success in the science classroom is often limited by the resources available such as well-equipped laboratories and reagents, but also trained, knowledgeable and engaging teachers. Most emphasis has been at increasing the test scores of standardized tests at the high school level with little regard to instilling the awe and wonder of science. With your support and cooperation we will bring the excitement back!
The DiscoverGenomics! Mobile Science Laboratory-SoCal will be a self-sufficient mobile laboratory hosting middle school students and teachers in the San Diego/Orange County areas, providing opportunities to learn current bioscience concepts and to master the use of current laboratory. The Mobile Lab Staff will work closely with educators to assure curriculum meets California State Standards and will provide 30 hours of training. A multiple-day visit approach will be implemented and is designed to allow more interaction during the school’s daily and academic school year, unlike existing local science programs.
Home to some of the world’s leading genomic scientists and one of the largest and mostly sophisticated genomic sequencing facilities in the world, the Venter Institute and BIOCOM Institute are committed to offering high quality science education opportunities for students and teachers with your support. In honor of our generous supporters, each will be offered multiple recognition benefits. For significant contributions, these benefits include bi-coastal acknowledgement. Benefits include logo/brand placement on the bus, educational visits to schools of your choice (one per coast), print materials, visibility on the Venter and BIOCOM website (with link to your site) and a well-distributed press release. Should this project be consistent with the goals and funding patterns of your organization, we would be pleased to arrange discussion meetings with your designated leadership team.
For more information please feel free to contact: Selina Hudgins, JCVI, 858.200.1821 or shudgins@jcvi.org