Participants tested the concept of centrifugal force by creating spin art. Over the years, the workshops have continued to evolve and now include the power of UV light and the Mirasol^® Pathogen Reduction Technology (PRT) System. In our latest workshop, in place for five years, we have been partnering with Ball Mason Jars to demonstrate the concepts of lean manufacturing through a brownie production line.

Watch a video created by the Society of Women Engineers to learn more about the annual event.

Nathan Frank, a laboratory scientist working on Quantum^®, served as Lee's mentor and the coordinator for our participation in the RET program.

This program allows Terumo BCT yet another avenue of community outreach. In the long term, we are also helping to shape the next generation of scientists, engineers and technicians, as the kids that these teachers interact with will be old enough to intern here in five to ten years! By allowing teachers to be exposed to the process of industrial-scale medical device development, we help them give their students deeper and more accurate insights into a wider range of careers and disciplines that they can pursue in the future.

At the end of the externship, all the teachers in the program who worked at different companies came together for a final day of professional development and reflection. This year the event was held at Terumo BCT. All 12 of the teachers in the program toured Terumo BCT to learn about the work we are doing in bioscience and manufacturing and to gain further insights into STEM careers and the skills necessary for those careers.

Learn more about this inspiring program in a short video created by Colorado Bioscience Institute, featuring Nathan Frank and Scott Larson, who also serves on their board of directors.

In the fall of 2018, Terumo BCT served as a host for the University of Denver MBA program’s Global Challenge. The Global Challenge is a semester-long project where an assigned team of MBA students work as consultants to help tackle a defined problem within a given country or region. This project includes a 2-week visit to the subject country near the end of the semester.

A team of five MBA students were assigned to Terumo BCT and worked with mentors Chris Meier (Director, Americas Marketing), Melani Chang (Global Marketing Manager, Autologous Biologics) and Eduardo Morato (Country Manager, Brazil) to assess the Brazilian market for introduction of Terumo BCT’s Autologous Biologics product line. The students' deliverables included:

• Situational analysis of the broader Brazil healthcare system, and specifically the cellular therapies market
• Segmentation and targeting recommendations
• An overall recommendation for entry into the market
• A final report and presentation to Terumo BCT

Our engagement began at the kickoff lunch, where Chris met with the team of students for the first time and introduced them to the project and its scope. Chris, Melani and Eduardo then maintained weekly update meetings with the team throughout the project. Several of the check-in meetings were held at the Terumo BCT campus where students were able to see our manufacturing and experience our full range of products and business areas through the Pinnacle Center.

In November, Chris traveled to Brazil with the team and spent time touring medical facilities and interviewing the top key opinion leaders in the cellular therapy field. The project culminated with a final presentation to Terumo BCT leaders and executives at the beginning of January.

Our associates in India have taken a special interest in four lower primary schools located within five kilometers of our facility, including Peyad Govt. LP School, Thuruthumoola LP School, Vilappilsala UP School and Cherukode Tribal School. These schools serve underprivileged students.

We focus on providing the students with enhanced learning experiences to succeed in the changing world by helping the schools with infrastructure support such as setting up libraries, computer labs and toilets.

In addition, we provide the children with notebooks, school bags and newspaper subscriptions. An interschool quiz competition awards scholarships to the high-scoring students. To promote the scientific temperament of students, National Technology Day was organized in May 2018, with quiz competitions, scientific sessions and a visit to the planetarium. Since 1999, we have invested more than USD $500,000 to support the schools.

As a commitment to promoting wellness, our associates introduced tennis classes and provided the students with shoes, uniforms and equipment. They also host the annual All Kerala Mini Tennis Tournament. We support the Trivandrum Sports League, a year-long program for identifying the most talented athletes in the district and promoting a culture of adopting a healthy lifestyle through sports.

Participants are selected through a competitive application process including interviews and academic transcripts. The 50 JIM trainees at Terumo BCT will participate in two semesters of technical training focused on advancing Japanese manufacturing skills and disciplines including logistics, problem-solving and personal career development.

Working on our manufacturing floor, the JIM trainees will learn how to work successfully in a manufacturing environment for a multinational company. The ultimate goal is to train the next generation of manufacturing leaders to strengthen the workforce pipeline for Japanese manufacturers operating in India. Terumo BCT will be able to hire from this pool of trainees after the program ends.

Terumo BCT’s Ideation Lab employs a large pool of Terumo BCT's interns — primarily students in their last two years of undergraduate studies and graduate students. Most have degrees in biomedical science, electrical engineering, chemical engineering or mechanical engineering. And more than half of those interns accept offers to become full-time associates.

“Many recent graduates have great design skills on CAD systems and 3D modeling, they are very enthusiastic and eager to learn from senior engineers. That blending of junior and senior engineer… there is a lot of magic there," says Tom Felt, Vice President of Ideation.

In 2017, Terumo BCT launched a new internal internship program in response to feedback from the Associate Engagement Survey. These new engineering internship positions were created exclusively for existing associates at Terumo BCT who are working on or have completed degrees in mechanical engineering, chemical engineering or biomedical engineering.

These positions are three-month temporary roles to work with the I&D engineering teams on engineering projects.

Since 1983, AABB’s National Blood Foundation (NBF) has funded more than 200 innovative scientists through its early-career Scientific Research Grant Program. Terumo BCT has been a Council on Resarch and Development (CORD) supporter of the NBF for 17 years, contributing more than USD $1 million to support early-career researchers. This has helped fund dozens of young scientists and physicians and advance research that is critical to moving our industry forward.

As a result of the financial support received from many leading blood centers and organizations, including Terumo BCT, the NBF introduced an expanded funding model for the 2018 early-career grant cycle that enabled the NBF to fund a greater number of promising applicants. After a rigorous review process, expert scientists serving on the NBF Scientific Research Grants Review Committee identified seven outstanding researchers introducing novel approaches in transfusion medicine and cellular therapies.

In addition to its early-career grant program, the NBF strives to acknowledge prior NBF grant recipients who have made a significant impact on transfusion medicine and cellular therapies. The NBF Hall of Fame recognizes lifetime achievement leaders who contribute to the field and scientific investigators are acknowledged through the Scholar Program. Because of committed organizations like Terumo BCT, the NBF can continue its efforts to highlight the contributions these investigators make to the field.