Fraunhofer USA, Inc. Visits UMBI’s Rockville and Baltimore Facilities

Baltimore, MD- Senior members of Fraunhofer USA, Inc. and their parent organization Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, came from Germany, Michigan and Delaware to visit UMBI’s Rockville and Baltimore facilities.

Fraunhofer USA, Inc. performs applied research under contract to government and industry. Their customers include federal and state governments, multinational corporations, and small to medium-sized companies. Fraunhofer USA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft which maintains over 80 research units at more than 40 different locations throughout Germany. A staff of some 12,700, qualified scientists and engineers, works with an annual research budget of over one billion euros. Each Fraunhofer USA research center is closely affiliated with at least one of the 57 Fraunhofer Institutes. They also cooperate closely with major universities.

During their visit, Fraunhofer officials were provided with an overview of UMBI’s new Shady Grove expansion including a new plant and insect transformation core and cGMP facility. Dr. Don Nuss, Director of UMBI’s Center of Biosystems Research provided an overview of specific plant biotechnology work. Gary Coleman, Assistant Director of UMBI’s Education and Outreach office also provide information on workforce development, professional and teacher training programs and k-12 and graduate and undergraduate education efforts at UMBI. This presentation was followed by a tour of the Center for Advance Research in Biotechnology and a tour of the expanded facilities at Shady Grove. The group then traveled to Baltimore, where Dr. Frank Robb, Associate Director of the Center of Marine Biotechnology, Dr. John Lederer, Director of the Medical Biotechnology Center, and Dr. David Pauzza, Associate Director of the Institute of Human Virology, also presented on research programs of interest to the Fraunhofer associates.

The purpose of the visit was to explore potential collaborative education, research and economic development opportunities, and to exchange information. “This is a wonderful opportunity for Maryland to showcase some of its world class talent in plant and marine biotechnology, and to form strategic win-win partnerships with another leading international research institute,” said Dr. Jennie Hunter-Cevera, President of UMBI. “We were happy to host these officials and look forward to fruitful collaborations in the near future.”

(From left to right) Dr. Anke Hellwig, Deputy Head of Department International Business Development; Dr. Vidadi Yusibov, Executive Director, Center for Molecular Biotechnology; Dr. Martina Schraudner, Research Planning, Fraunhofer Gesellsthaft; Dr. William Hartman, Vice President, Fraunhofer USA.

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Celebrating our 20th anniversary year, UMBI is Maryland's premier biotechnology research institute within the University System of Maryland and was established in 1985. The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) consists of five major research and education centers and is dedicated to advancing the frontiers of biotechnology. UMBI’s centers of research include: CARB, the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology located in Rockville; CBR, the Center for Biosystems Research located in College Park; and COMB, the Center of Marine Biotechnology, MBC, the Medical Biotechnology Center, and IHV, the Institute of Human Virology, all located in Baltimore. For more information, visit www.umbi.umd.edu