For the fifth year, Controlled Environments surveyed its readership on cleanroom facility-related purchasing decisions, as well as the salary and benefits of cleanroom industry professionals. We have used these results to analyze the latest trends, which will enable you to compare your cleanroom and overall compensation package with those of your peers. We also asked questions about industry salaries, workloads, benefits and job…
Lasers could save Notre-Dame Cathedral
The world watched in horror on April 15 as a massive fire raged at Notre-Dame de Paris, a medieval Catholic cathedral considered one of the world’s most magnificent examples of French Gothic architecture. The fast-moving inferno raged for 15 hours, destroying most of the church’s wooden roof and sending its 19th century spire crashing to the ground. Hundreds…
Lab of the Year Winners Announced
Now in its 53rd year, the Lab of the Year Awards, recognizing excellence in research laboratory design, planning and construction, announced the winners of its prestigious international competition at the 2019 Lab Design Conference in Orlando earlier this week. The 2019 Lab of the Year is MIT.nano in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The project was submitted by Wilson HGA. Also recognized as Lab…
Controlled Environments Announces Fifth Annual Readers’ Choice Awards Winners
In its fifth year, the Controlled Environments Readers’ Choice Awards highlight the cleanroom equipment and supplies that readers judge most effective and trusted in their work. Cleanroom equipment and product suppliers were invited to submit their products for these prestigious awards. Winners in each category were chosen based on a voting survey sent to a…
New Friends for Curiosity
The web page for the Mars 2020 mission has a countdown clock of nearly 500 days until launch. For much of the time until then, the rover will spend its days in a cleanroom at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, before being sent to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final assembly…
REMINDER: Submit Your Cleanroom Product to the Readers’ Choice Awards!
Controlled Environments is proud to announce its fifth annual Readers’ Choice Awards for the Best Cleanroom Products of the Year. The awards celebrate excellence in product design and performance for tools, equipment and materials used in all areas of clean and controlled environment performance and operation. Equipment and product suppliers are invited to submit their…
Controlled Environments Announces Fifth Annual Readers’ Choice Awards
Controlled Environments is proud to announce its fifth annual Readers’ Choice Awards for the Best Cleanroom Products of the Year. The awards celebrate excellence in product design and performance for tools, equipment and materials used in all areas of clean and controlled environment performance and operation. Equipment and product suppliers are invited to submit their…
Buffalo Billion Overseer Sentenced to 3.5 Years
The founder of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Alain Kaloyeros, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison and a $100,000 fine on Dec. 11, after a federal judge admonished him for directing $855 million in bids for state contracts to contributors of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in order to gain the governor’s favor. U.S. District Court…
Jury Deliberations Continue in Meningitis Trial
Jurors serving on the trial of six former employees of the New England Compounding Center were scheduled to return to federal court on Dec. 10, after failing to reach a verdict the previous week. The NECC has been blamed for a 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak—thought to have been caused by improper cleanroom practices—that killed over…
Facility Profile: Datwyler Production Plant
Professional Profile: Brisco Harward
Controlled Environments spoke with Brisco Harward, Director of Technical & Quality Services at Pharma Tech Industries. Brisco recently came to Pharma Tech with more than 25 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, with primary responsibilities ranging from technical support of manufacturing to FDA Quality Remediation. His work with dosage forms, controlled substances, and tropical products span…
Massive Recall Issued for 12 Million Pounds of Beef
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that 12 million pounds of non-intact raw beef products are being recalled, due to concerns about possible salmonella contamination. JBS Tolleson Inc. of Tolleson, Ariz. is issuing the recall for the beef items, including ground beef, which were packaged dates spanning from July 26, 2018 to Sept. 7,…
Facility Profile: Mustang Bio Cell Therapy Manufacturing Facility
Size: 27,000 sf Project team: DPS Group (engineering, architectural services), Hodess Cleanroom Construction (construction, prime consultant) Description: Mustang Bio’s new CAR T and gene therapy development facility is located within UMass Medicine Science Park in Worcester. It will support the clinical development and commercialization of Mustang’s CAR T and gene therapy product candidates and enable…
Professional Profile: Kathryn Weingart
Controlled Environments spoke with Kathryn Weingart, Vice President of Quality at Pharma Tech Industries. Kathryn recently joined Pharma Tech with over 30 years of quality assurance, regulatory, and technical operations experience in regulated industries. Her career has included quality assurance roles with Qualitest, Pfizer, Cardinal Health, and Procter & Gamble, where her work primarily involved…
LAST DAY to Apply to be a Lab Design Conference Speaker!
The 2019 Lab Design Conference will be held on April 29-May 1, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency Orlando in Florida. The conference planning committee is seeking qualified speakers — but TODAY is the deadline to apply! Since 2002, the Lab Design Conference — presented by Laboratory Design, a sister publication of Controlled Environments — has provided…
What’s in Store for Controlled Environments in 2019
Every year, when the final issue of Controlled Environments comes out in November/December, I like to give a summary of what we have accomplished throughout the year and what you can expect when January arrives. The year 2018 saw Controlled Environments move to an all-digital format. We also conducted our fourth annual Cleanroom Trends and Salary Survey, where we surveyed…
Only a Few Days Left! Speak at the 2019 Lab Design Conference
The 2019 Lab Design Conference will be held on April 29-May 1, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency Orlando in Florida. The conference planning committee is seeking qualified speakers — but the deadline to apply is almost here! Since 2002, the Lab Design Conference — presented by Laboratory Design, a sister publication of Controlled Environments —…
Compounding Center Employee: Safety was ‘Secondary’
A former pharmacy technician at the New England Compounding Center testified last week that speed was prioritized over safety and sanitation when dispensing drugs. Cory Fletcher stated, “I assume I made a mistake” in his testimony (given under an immunity agreement) on Oct. 30, acknowledging that he possibly forgot to include a painkiller in drugs…
Time Is Running Out! Apply to Speak at 2019 LDC
The annual Lab Design Conference — hosted by Laboratory Design, a sister publication of Controlled Environments — features educational sessions on topics of importance to those involved in planning, designing, engineering, constructing and operating laboratory facilities. Experts from the lab design/build community are encouraged to share their knowledge and advice with their peers by delivering hour-long presentations on…
Meningitis Trial Defendant’s Lawyer: She Was on Vacation
The lawyer for one of the six people on trial for their role in a deadly meningitis outbreak in 2012 says his client was on vacation during the time she was alleged to have been working in the compounding pharmacy. Sharon Carter, a defendant in the New England Compounding Center trial, is being represented by…
Former Pharma Tech Says Compounding Center Fudged Expiration Dates
A former pharmacy technician testified on Monday that it was “routine practice” for employees at the New England Compounding Center to falsify expiration dates on drugs that were shipped to healthcare facilities nationwide. Joseph Connelly’s testimony was delivered during the second week of a federal trial where six former NECC employees are facing charges including…
Witness: Compounding Center Used Fake Names on Drug Prescriptions
A former salesman for the New England Compounding Center took the stand last week and claimed that the drug firm used falsified names on prescription drugs. Under Massachusetts law, as well as laws and regulations in many other states, signed patient-specific prescriptions are mandatory. Kenneth Boneau, a former salesman for the drug firm, acknowledged records…
Another Trial Related to Deadly Meningitis Outbreak
The medical director of a Nashville clinic told a courtroom that officials from the New England Compounding Center never responded to his question about testing spinal steroids. Dr. John Culclasure of the St. Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgical Center testified on Oct. 17 that he questioned the NECC after one of his patients had been diagnosed with…
Facility Profile: Center for Life Sciences, Holyoke Community College
Cost: $4.55 million Size: 13,000 sf Project team: Emily Rabinsky, professor of biology, biotechnology program coordinator; James Knapp, professor of biology; Dan Campbell, HCC director of Facilities & Engineering; Lia Sin Hew, associate, Dimella Shaffer (architect) Cleanroom operations are expected to be incorporated into HCC’s credit-bearing biotechnology classes. Later this fall, HCC will also begin…
Entries Due TOMORROW for Cleanroom Apparel Product Showcase!
The November/December 2018 issue of Controlled Environments will feature a showcase of cleanroom apparel and attire. This may include masks, shoe covers and shoes, bouffants, eyewear, gloves, cleanroom suits, cleanroom laundering and recycling services, and more. We would like to invite you to submit information about one of your company’s related products or services for…