Success in the biotechnology industry requires a variety of technical and professional skills — including teamwork, critical thinking and problem solving in real-world research environments.
Traditionally, students develop these skills through internships at industry sites. Many undergraduates, however, don’t do internships because of limited availability, financial constraints and logistics such as child care and transportation.
To address these issues, the University of Washington Bothell’s Center for Biotechnology Innovation & Training has launched an on-campus internship program for STEM students.
For Dr. Guy Hamilton, CBIT director, access was a top priority when envisioning the program. To save students time and resources, he thought, why not bring the internships to campus?
“Expanding opportunities for students to gain industry-relevant research experience and mentorship requires reducing barriers for both students and employers,” Hamilton said. “Establishing industry-aligned research opportunities on campus equips students with essential laboratory skills while enhancing career awareness, helping them identify potential job pathways.”
Students in the first cohort began their internships in winter quarter 2025 under the supervision of Dr. Lori Robins, a professor and associate dean in the School of STEM.
An industry perspective
Launched in 2022, CBIT was formed in partnership with the local biotech industry with the objective of engaging faculty and students in a range of research and educational projects.
“One of the goals of the center is to give students more opportunities to do hands-on research and also connect them with industry folks,” Robins said. “When you start to build industry into these research projects, I think it’s a win-win for everybody. Industry sees what we’re doing. The students really blossom, and, from a research perspective, it moves the research forward because there are very clear expectations for what the students are doing.”
Robins knew from experience how valuable the perspective of an industry partner can be. In her own research, which focuses on understanding biological mechanisms, she had previously worked with Jeff Williams, chief science officer for Briotech, a biotech company based in Everett, Washington.
“Industry thinks about projects a little bit differently than I do in academia,” Robins said. “As an academic, I always want to know the why about everything and get into the details, whereas industry is often focused on a specific objective and then moving on. So, Jeff brings this really streamlined way of asking questions and it makes us really hone in on what the goal of our project is and what the most efficient way to reach that goal is.”
A productive collaboration
Williams had served on the School of STEM’s Advisory Board for several years before he joined Briotech. He became interested in working directly with some of the school’s talented researchers. When he reached out to the dean to suggest a collaboration, he was introduced to Robins — resulting in a productive collaboration that has lasted a decade, he said.
He was excited to continue their collaboration when Robins approached him about working with students in a mentorship role.
“It’s been exceptionally rewarding,” he said. “Seeing some of these students realize how exciting science can be and choosing to advance their careers in it, has been a delight. The relationship is unusual — industry bringing challenges and needs to the campus to be solved, rather than shipping students out to industry for internship experiences. I think it’s unique, and in the way we have accomplished it, extraordinarily valuable for both industry and academia.”
Students in the cohort worked on five different projects, leaning on the expertise of both Robins and Williams. Each project centered around a different aspect of chronic wound treatment, from odor control and antimicrobial coatings for bandages to how to promote wound healing and get rid of infection.
“I bring to them an awareness of the place their experiences and abilities in chemistry has in the pursuit of practical innovations and in supporting the validity of new ideas in product development,” Williams said. “They get to use the most advanced and sophisticated technologies that they have become familiar with to address practically important problems — and that shows them how much value their talents and experiences have in the real world, where rigor in the scientific support for innovation provides the credibility that justifies investment.”
Real-world projects
For Alexsander Kim, a senior on the pre-med track majoring in Biology, the internship provided just the real-world experience he was looking for, with the added bonus of being right on campus, where he could go straight to the lab and work on his project whenever it fit into his schedule.
“As a pre-med student, I learned that chronic wound issues need to be viewed beyond what the eye can see and require me to dissect the physiology of the wounds,” he said. “As a student at UW Bothell, the lab offers hands-on experiences that I can integrate into class topics related to this research as well as give me practice in problem solving and critical thinking that I can utilize as a student.”
Biochemistry senior Gabriel John Staudinger had already been doing research with Robins when the internship program launched. He jumped at the opportunity for additional lab experience and to support published research.
“The most rewarding part of this experience is being able to work with great people and working on publishable projects,” Staudinger said. “Dr. Robins and Jeff are amazing people, and I am very glad they are mentoring me as an undergraduate researcher. The publishable projects they have allowed me to work on have propelled my career and allowed many different opportunities for me.
“My career goal is to become an oral surgeon,” he said, “and the experiences of working with industry and academia minds have allowed more doors to open for my career.”
“The experiences of working with industry and academia minds have allowed more doors to open for my career.”
Gabriel John Staudinger, senior, Biochemistry
Connections for the future
Each week, the students met as a group and presented their progress to both Robins and Williams to receive feedback on their research and on their communications skills.
One of the added benefits of bringing an external mentor like Williams to campus, Robins noted, is that he “sets the bar even higher because he’s coming from the outside, and they don’t see him every day. He brings a level of expectation that makes my students who are already really good even better.”
Seeing the students grow throughout the experience was equally rewarding for Williams.
“Watching the students get so much better at articulating their accomplishments, presenting their findings and realizing the practical implications of what they have achieved — seeing them blossom — has been very satisfying,” he said. “I think that Lori and I have found ways to bring out the best in them.”
This first internship cohort served as a pilot program for the CBIT, Robins said. In future quarters, the center aims to involve more faculty and industry mentors to continue to expand access to internships.
Contact Dr. Guy Hamilton to partner with the Center for Biological Innovation & Training on student internships or guided student research projects.
