IUCRC Phase III The Pennsylvania State University: Center for Membrane Applications, Science and Technology (MAST)

Membranes are used in a variety of industries such as the manufacture of drugs, production of food and beverages, treatment of drinking and wastewater and recovery of valuable chemical species from waste streams. The Center for Membrane Applications, Science and Technology (MAST) is collaborating with membrane manufacturers and users in these fields and others, to promote scientific knowledge and to develop new products that advance human health, prosperity and welfare.

By establishing multidisciplinary project teams with scientists from a range of industries as well as university researchers across four institutions, the MAST Center is addressing challenging real world technical issues that are of significant societal impact in the areas of healthcare and environmental sustainability. The Penn State site has a specific focus on membranes for the production of monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, and gene therapies, addressing critical challenges in the manufacture of these life-saving therapeutics.

In addition, the research will leverage Penn State’s significant investment in state-of-the-art instrumentation for materials characterization, providing a unique environment for student training, education, and research in membrane science and technology.

The Center for Membrane Applications, Science and Technology (MAST) conducts industrially relevant research in six areas: (1) development and characterization of new membranes (2) development of green membrane manufacturing methods; (3) development of membrane processes for water treatment, (4) manufacture of products for the (4) biopharmaceutical industry, (5) pharmaceutical industry and (6) membrane applications in food and beverage industries. The Center works with industrial partners representing membrane users and manufacturers and faculty and students from four institutions in order to develop technological solutions to challenging separations.

In parallel, the Center trains students to be future leaders of technology development. The Penn State site has a specific focus on membranes for the production of monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, and gene therapies, leveraging Penn State’s significant investment in state-of-the-art instrumentation for materials characterization. Specific projects of interest include the development of single pass tangential flow filtration for the concentration and purification of adeno-associated virus, the use of electron tomography to study changes in pore structure due to membrane fouling, and the design of high performance countercurrent membrane purification for continuous bioprocessing.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.