Student projects

Please contact the corresponding TU Delft supervisor to discuss the project details and to gain more insight. You can follow this procedure to indicate your interest.

MEP - CFD-guided scale-down from end-in-mind bioreactor development: from 15 kL to 2 L

Position is filled (Start: September 2024)

Supervisor: Miki Segami (TU Delft)

This project is part of a public-private collaboration between TU Delft and Janssen Biologics B.V.

In this project you will have the opportunity to learn and apply computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations for industry-relevant bioprocessing issues. Scaling up to large volume bioreactors is not without issues, and often the performance of your bioreactor can be lower than what was seen during lab-scale development. To explore and understand what is different between these two scales, and to formulate answers to solve the issues, you will use CFD simulations. This allows you to identify the physical differences, but it also provides the means to determine the process parameters for a scale-down model of the large scale bioreactor. This means that you can actually mimick the issues you might encounter at the larger scale in a lab-scale bioreactor. If you are interested learning and applying bioreactor simulations and develop a valid scale-down model, feel free to reach out to the abovementioned supervisor. More information: Project Description

MEP - CFD-guided scale-up of low pH viral inactivation for monoclonal antibody production

This position is filled (Start: September 2024)

Supervisor: Mariana Cesar Carvalho (TU Delft)

This project is part of a public-private collaboration between TU Delft and Janssen Biologics B.V.

In this project you will have the opportunity to deepen your knowledge on biopharmaceutical downstream processing (DSP) of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and learn how you can apply computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations for its design. Viral inactiviation (VI) is mandatory step during DSP for mAbs, however, compared to other DSP unit operations, it is not well-characterized and often overlooked for further optimization. This project will focus on the development and application of a VI scale-up CFD simulation for optimization and comparison to scale-down models. This allows you to identify what parameters and equipment properties are most influential and should be targeted during process design. This project gives you the opportunity to work on industry-relevant issues, as it is part of a public-private collaboration, and expand your process design capabilities. Feel free to reach out to the abovementioned supervisor if you are interested in this project. More information: Project Description

 

MEP - Embryoid body and microcarrier ratio optimization for hematopoietic cell production in bioreactors

This position is filled (Start: September 2024)

Supervisor: Brenda Juarez Garza (TU Delft)

This project is part of the TRACER consortium, working together with Sanquin and Getinge Applikon.

In this project you will have the opportunity to develop upstream bioprocess development skills while working with a novel product, namely a cell therapy product to treat anemias such as sickle cell disease. The aim of this research is to use induced pluripotent stem cells to differentiate and proliferate towards blood stem cells, all in a single bioreactor. There is still a lot to explore in this field, such as "What are the optimal bioreactor settings?", "How do we ensure efficient harvesting?", and "How do processing choices, such as the number of microcarriers, impact production?". If you would like to contribute to answering these questions for a novel cell therapy product and learn more about mammalian cell culture in bioreactors, then please contact the abovementioned supervisor. More information: Project Description

MEP - Sample-free and real-time bioreactor monitoring with Raman spectroscopy

This position is filled (Start: September 2023)

Supervisor: Maarten Klaverdijk (TU Delft)

In this project you will be able to gain experience with state-of-the-art Raman spectroscopy and automatic bioreactor monitoring. Raman spectroscopy is an analytical technique that provides chemical data (glucose, products, etc.) as well as biological data (cell concentration, viability etc.) from a single spectrum. This is highly relevant for bioprocess engineering and bioprocess development research in industry and academia as it allows us to follow what is happening in the bioreactor in real-time without sampling. In this project you will design and perform experiments and use your own data to build machine learning models to ensure robust real-time monitoring applications. More information: Project Description