Santa Fe College is expanding the Charles L. Blount Center to be a full-service campus. Home of SF’s Center for Innovation and Economic Development (CIED), the Blount Campus is situated in the heart of downtown Gainesville, just six blocks from the University of Florida, in the center of the city’s Innovation District.
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
The Santa Fe College Charles R. and Nancy V. Perry Center for Emerging Technologies is a 30,000 square foot teaching facility integrated with functional laboratories. Built in Alachua in 2009, the Perry Center is located directly across the street from Progress Park, a growing industrial park focused on bioscience, manufacturing and technology.
The Perry Center focuses specifically on preparing students for high demand jobs in Progress Park and beyond, particularly with its bachelor degree programs. The Industrial Biotechnology program gives students hands-on training with genetic modification and assay development, as well as the financial, regulatory and organizational skills need to work in biomanufacturing, quality control, research and development, and facilities management jobs. Graduates of the Clinical Laboratory Science program are eligible for certifications by the American Association of Bioanalysts.
(AAB), the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), and the American Medical Technologist (AMT). Students are prepared to work as medical technologists in clinical and research settings. Both the Industrial Biotechnology and Clinical Laboratory Science bachelor’s degrees require extensive internships, which creates pipelines with local employers. Santa Fe College also offers one-year certificates and two-year Associate in Science degrees that train students to enter the workforce as phlebotomists, chemical technicians, laboratory technicians, and biomedical equipment technicians.
Together with SF’s Research in Undergraduate Education initiative, the Perry Center hosts a three-day STEM Fest every November, inviting students from the college and from area high schools – including Santa Fe High School, which has a magnet program in biotechnology – to hear guest speakers and to display posters showcasing their accomplishments in the STEM disciplines. Check “STEM Fest” on sfcollege.edu for details.
