Meeting or exceeding expectations is a defining metric of success in the workplace. There are multitudes of expectations, many of which often go unsaid. How do you clarify what is expected of you and obtain regular actionable feedback so that you can progress steadily towards those expectations? This session will outline tools you can use to define the many expectations inherent in any work situation, assess for gaps in your knowledge and build the language to ask for and obtain the information and feedback you need to succeed.

Workshop participants will come away with strategies to:

• Assess what expectations have been made clear, and which still need further clarity.
• Identify gaps in expectations, how you’ll be evaluated, assessed and trained.
• Language to obtain expectation clarity and actionable feedback.
• Proactively manage-up to promote actions that support your success

Presenter: Dr. Karen Leung, CCSF Bioscience Internship Program

Welcome to the 2025 InnovATEBIO series of virtual ATE project talks.  This series features leaders in biotechnology workforce education from across the US sharing their work on exciting projects funded by the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program.  The ATE program supports the education of technicians for the high-technology fields that drive our nation's economy.

Talk 1:  Modules for Bioindustrial Manufacturing

Three goals guide this project's collaboration between Delgado Community College (DCC) and Bioindustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem (BioMADE). First is to formalize a Community of Practice (CoP) for workforce agencies, academic institutions, and industry/commercial entities to inform local, regional, and national workforce efforts in bioindustrial manufacturing. Second is to develop, test, and finalize key bioprocessing concept education modules that meet performance benchmarks for bioindustrial manufacturing. Third is to increase capacity of a diverse and inclusive workforce ecosystem as well as career entry through the deployment of curricular materials and dissemination efforts. This project will fill knowledge gaps related to bioprocessing for careers in bioindustrial manufacturing. These efforts will contribute to a well-prepared, industry-qualified, and diverse biomanufacturing workforce.

Speaker:  Louise Petruzzella, Director of Education and Workforce Development, BioMADE

Talk 2:  Using Hackathons to Catalyze Research Projects in Antibody Engineering

Antibodies are used as biological therapeutics, in diagnostic tests, and as reagents for research. Engineering antibodies can improve binding, specificity, and manufacturability. We are using hackathons to create undergraduate research projects that explore antibody engineering and related technologies. Hackathon projects are addressing artificial intelligence and machine learning, cell line characterization, producing antibodies in algae, making nanobodies in E. coli, developing antibody-related games, designing new antibodies based on homology, immune escape, epitopes, and screening assays. We will discuss results from previous hackathons and the resources that have been developed.

Speaker:  Sandra Porter, PhD, Digital World Biology, InnovATEBIO

A career conversation with your mentor-manager is essentially a negotiation. It's a time to discuss your career path, what types of support your mentor-manager is willing and able to offer, and the level of productivity they'll need to see to continue to support you. Using best practices from Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (Stone, Patton, Heen and Fisher), participants will go through the steps of preparing for a negotiation (including identifying conversational goals and concerns about the conversation, assessing their research mentor's position and preferences, etc.), brainstorm different conversational tactics for each stage of a negotiation (including opening the conversation, negotiating different issues, coming to agreement and ending a conversation) and consider steps post-conversation.

• Workshop participants will come away with strategies to:
• Identify the steps to prepare for a career conversation
• Consider how your mentor-manager would prefer to have this conversation
• Develop talking points to keep the conversation on track
• Discuss how to open, have and exit the conversation
• Identify strategies if a conversation becomes contentious
• Describe next steps post-conversation(s)

Presenter: Naledi Saul, MPM, Director, UCSF Office of Career and Professional Development