The Biotechnology Industry Orientation programme initiated by IIBT, NIPER and USP to bridge the gap between the industry and academia has been proved successful as the first batch of 20 trainees passed out with flying colours in Hyderabad.

At a valedictory function organised at USP campus in Hyderabad, the students, professors and industry leaders shared their thoughts and experiences and stressed the need for bridging the wide gap between the academia and the needs of industry.

Earlier in September 2012, IIBT, USP and NIPER had collaborated together and drafted most advanced curriculum taken from North Carolina State University in America to provide “Biotechnology Industry Orientation Programme” for the new recruits and fresh biotechnology and pharmacy graduates.

Sharing their views, the students of biotechnology orientation training programme claimed that they have learned many things about the Industrial processes and advanced technology in the biotechnology and pharma industry. “Merely having academic knowledge does not make us completely fit to get absorbed in the industry.  Industry orientation and training programmes like this with real industrial experience have given us confidence and added more value to our academic skills,” added a student of the orientation programme.

While speaking at the programme Dr Satyam Upadrashta, senior director of Millennium Takeda, quoted verses from Bhagavat gita and advised the trainees not to become complacent with their jobs. He said, “Don’t live in comfort zone, you need to work with passion and give more than what is expected of you. Put goals in life and slug to achieve them which will lead you to innovate new things.”

Explaining about the improvement brought about among the students by the orientation programme, Dr K Srinivas Rao, managing director, IIBT, said, “We are very much satisfied with the outcome. Initially we had made a careful assessment of the students before taking up the course. We had analyzed the knowledge of students with regard to biotechnology industry before the course and again after the course. Before the course their knowledge about the industry was only 30 per cent, but after the completion of the course they have gained more than 80 per cent of the knowledge.”

When asked what kind of job prospects the students can gain with this training programme, Ashok Dang, director, USP said, “Among the 20 students enrolled in the first batch of biotechnology industrial orientation programme, two students have already bagged campus placements in ‘Royal life Sciences’ even while they were in training. The remaining trainees are expected to be placed very soon as many companies have already scheduled their interview slots with the students.”

Having tasted the success in their first attempt in providing biotechnology industrial orientation training, IIBT, NIPER and USP are planning to launch the second programme from December 2, 2012.