Student-Led Design and Testing of a Low-Cost Batch Bioreactor

Authors

  • Eoin Crane University of Wyoming, United States
  • Anna Steele University of Wyoming, United States https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1127-2150
  • Christine Keech University of Wyoming, United States
  • Ian Hammontree University of Wyoming, United States
  • Karen Wawrousek University of Wyoming, United States

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18260/2-1-370.660-140843

Keywords:

Biotechnology, Undergraduate Students, Reactors and reactor design, Bioengineering

Abstract

This paper describes the design and construction of a low-cost bioreactor as a project for a senior-level experimental design laboratory course. Average rates of yeast growth in exponential phase were 0.245 hr-1 in the student-built reactor versus 0.290 hr-1 in a commercially available, bench-top bioreactor. In this paper, we provide the design of the bioreactor and a parts list to enable others to use and enhance the low-cost bioreactor as a teaching tool.

Author Biographies

Eoin Crane, University of Wyoming, United States

Eoin Crane is a Research Associate at the University of Wyoming. He earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wyoming. He previously worked at Well Oiled Machine, LLC, developing bioinformatic workflows for genomic analysis.

Anna Steele, University of Wyoming, United States

Anna Steele is a PhD student in the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science program at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wyoming. Currently, she is researching selective binding through multivalent protein design. ORCID: 0009-0006-1127-2150

Ian Hammontree, University of Wyoming, United States

Ian Hammontree is an Assistant Lecturer in the Chemical & Biomedical Engineering department at the University of Wyoming. He earned a M.S. degree from the University of Wyoming in Chemical Engineering. He has taught Unit Operations Laboratories, Process Analysis, Thermodynamics, Senior Design, is the Process Control and Instrumentation Minor Coordinator, and works on department efforts in recruiting and outreach.

Karen Wawrousek, University of Wyoming, United States

Corresponding author: kwawrous@uwyo.edu

Summer 2026 Cover

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Published

2026-08-06

Issue

Vol. 60 No. 3 (2026): Summer 2026

Section

Manuscripts