The School of Advanced Technology will be offering a new three-year advanced diploma biotechnology technologist program at Woodroffe campus this fall.

The program will “offer students a wide array of skills and abilities that can be applied in many different types of jobs,” said Brad Mills who will be teaching introductory classes. He added that Ontario is one of the major provinces hiring biotechnology technicians, and that jobs in the field can range from the pharmaceutical to agricultural industries.

According to Vertha Coligan, coordinator of biotechnology and general education for the SAT, biotechnology is “an exploding field with huge career potential.”

Coligan said that demand in the local community for a program of this nature is part of the reason it was created.

Ottawa is part of a biotechnology corridor that stretches from Montreal to Toronto, explained Coligan. Recent substantial capital investment, she said, means there will be plenty of employment prospects for graduates in the research and production sides of the biotechnology sector.

“One of the greatest challenges facing the industry right now is a lack of competent, skilled technologists,” said Coligan.

“Our students who graduate from the program will have a lot of opportunities,” she added.

The program has existed for four years, but has not been available at Woodroffe due to inadequate space.

“Space is a huge issue at the college. We wanted to make sure that when the decision was made to actually offer it here that we could accommodate our students properly, safely,” said Coligan.

Space is essential for this program because along with theory, the curriculum calls for considerable lab time for students beginning right from their first semester.

Mills said that he was interested in teaching in the program because of this mixture.

“The diversity of the position [is what] I like most.”

Coligan and Mills were at the Discovery Evening held at Algonquin on Jan. 17 to present the program to potential applicants.

Both agreed that interest came from a range of attendees at the event. Along with high school students, there were international students and people looking to change careers or fields showing interest in the program.

“It was an excellent turn-out,” said Mills.

Coligan said the program currently has 23 “solid applicants.”

“We need 24 students to run the program. And from Discovery Evening and from the interest that’s been expressed within the community for this program, we don’t anticipate that enrollment is going to be an issue at all.”

Biotechnology is rapidly growing, and Coligan cited the positive effects of ethanol, a biofuel, as one example of how it benefits society.

“Really it’s about improving our quality of life and addressing major issues in our global community,” Coligan said about the biotechnology field.

Mills said biotechnology has the potential to provide the world with a better quality of life due to advancements in healthcare, research and new technology. He also said that the speed with which biotechnologists are now able to understand biological systems means that there are “so many more possibilities of answering long-standing problems.”