Still Setting the Standard in Downstream Processing

“The course has definitely met my expectations and I come away with a much better understanding of both what is possible and how to perform the mathematics behind each style of unit operation”

From 29 June – 3 July 2026 the Advanced Course on Downstream Processing was organized by BioTech Delft (Yvonne van Gameren, Jenifer Baptiste) in the Applied Sciences building of the TU Delft.

This course is designed to equip participants with the essential tools to quantitatively and systematically design an integrated downstream process. Established in 1989, it has a long-standing tradition of excellence in bioprocess education. The course is led by renowned experts in the field: Prof. Luuk van der Wielen (TU Delft, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet) and Prof. Marcel Ottens (TU Delft).

An international group of experts (Manuel van Leusden, Raquel Aires Barros, Reinoud Noordman, Jurgen Hubbuch, Alexander Hanke, Danielle Horneman, Rob Geertman, Bas Kokke, Beckley Nfor, Maarten Pennings and Matthias Wiendahl) from both industry and academia gave lectures to assure an optimal balance of practical knowledge and theoretical insight, which subsequently was trained by exercises, into the quantitative engineering aspects of bioseparations.

“The panel discussion was very insightful and covered a wide range of topics that are not so often discussed with a dedicated space in classrooms or in the industry.”

As part of the course, participants had the opportunity to compete for the Best Design Award 2026. The challenge involved working in teams of two to tackle a case study focused on designing a downstream process. Throughout the week, teams developed their designs, and the team with the most outstanding design was awarded the prize.

This case study was made possible through the invaluable support of PhD candidates from the Bioprocess Engineering group of the Department of Biotechnology: Ben Tumulero and Esther Prosper Ortega.

We are proud to announce the winners of this year’s award: Margarida Temudo and Giulia Polazzo

“The course has met and beaten my expectations. The main goal of it was to gain better understanding on mass balance, equilibria, filtration and chromatography steps. in short, what is going on inside of filter and chromatography column.”

The participants in the course are from all over the world and work in industry or at an university.