NEWARK, Del., May 12, 2020 — The National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) announced today that John Erickson, NIIMBL Senior Fellow, is named Acting Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Current CTO, Dr. Ruben Carbonell will be stepping out of this role but will continue to support NIIMBL as Senior Technology Strategist.
Erickson joined NIIMBL in 2019 with over 30 years of industry experience, and his insight and deep industry knowledge will continue to drive the Institute’s mission and help ensure an industry-pull on the portfolio of NIIMBL’s technology projects.
“NIIMBL has reached a pivotal moment in its evolution as an Institute. Having grown to over 150 members in just three years, we are looking forward to our long-term impact on the industry and the ecosystem. Ruben has been critical to our current success. He is one of the lead architects of NIIMBL and was key in developing our original vision and helping establish a strong foundation. We always imagined having someone with significant industry experience lead our technology portfolio and now is the right time to explore those options. We are fortunate that Ruben will continue to play a key role in NIIMBL in the future,” shares Kelvin H. Lee, Institute Director.
Carbonell stated: “When I agreed to serve as CTO, I knew that, as an industry-focused and industry-led institute, NIIMBL would eventually reach a point where it might be best to have a CTO with strong industry experience. After three years of growth and maturity we have a much better handle on the technical challenges that NIIMBL should be addressing for maximum impact, and we have entered a stage where NIIMBL-led projects should play an increasingly strong role in our technical portfolio. This has taken a great deal of work from all NIIMBL staff and the NIIMBL membership, and we should be proud that we have reached this juncture in our development. I am very excited about the new role I will be playing in the NIIMBL Leadership Team.” he said.
Carbonell has led NIIMBL’s technology portfolio since 2017. Carbonell, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, is a leader in biopharmaceutical manufacturing with a significant impact on both technology and training. Beyond the experience he brings to NIIMBL on these fronts, he has also been a vital link to activities at NC State University, the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC) in North Carolina, companies and academic partners in North Carolina, as well as helping to ensure active engagement by the state.
Under Carbonell’s leadership, NIIMBL has established technology roadmaps in gene therapy, vaccine, and antibody-drug conjugate/bispecific antibody manufacturing technologies as well as hosted critical workshops to help the community establish new connections and launch collaborative projects. In his new role, Carbonell will help ensure that the NIIMBL technology portfolio reflects an appropriate balance of individual projects and programs of work that meets industry’s needs with short, medium and long-term impacts by identifying future technological opportunities, including an emphasis on identifying innovations from small businesses that are relevant to large companies.
Lee notes that, “I am more excited than ever about NIIMBL’s future. John Erickson brings a wealth of experience, and an important perspective to NIIMBL. I am confident that John will be a great leader in this role and continue to drive the technology portfolio forward.”
To learn more about NIIMBL, visit NIIMBL.org.
About NIIMBL
The National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) is a public-private partnership whose mission is to accelerate biopharmaceutical innovation, support the development of standards that enable more efficient and rapid manufacturing capabilities, and educate and train a world-leading biopharmaceutical manufacturing workforce, fundamentally advancing U.S. competitiveness in this industry. NIIMBL is part of Manufacturing USA®, a diverse network of federally-sponsored manufacturing innovation institutes, and is funded through a cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the U.S. Department of Commerce with significant additional support from its members.
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