Our Institute offers its students all the skills necessary to best perform the profession of environmental technician. Given that the recycling of organic material cannot ignore the action of the microfauna and therefore its correct management as well as the production of compost and biomethane, products of considerable economic interest whose production is due exclusively to the microbial action on the organic matrix of the rejection. Microorganisms are the true protagonists of the recycling of organic material. It is therefore essential that technical personnels in training have correct and in-depth knowledge and ability to manage microbial populations useful for the environment. To this end, it is essential that the training process is implemented by a high number of microbiology laboratory hours. The environmental technician must be able to:
- recognize the different microbial species
- know the correct practices for in vitro culture
- know the different practices for identifying microbial populations
- perform quantitative analysis of microbial populations (must know how to carry out microbial counts)
- know the practices of identifying pathogenic microorganisms on different matrices and much more.
In order to be able to train students and guarantee them frequent laboratory practice, it is necessary to implement the instrumentation of our Institute which has recently been equipped with numerous useful instruments for the breeding and study of various microorganisms.
One of the most interesting and expensive purchases for our Institute was the Algal Farming System. This is made up of 1 vertical photobioreactor made up of 2 transparent rigid plastic polymer tubes, 1 external one with a diameter of 130 mm and 1 internal one with a smaller diameter, with pipes, valves and fittings. Everything is supported by steel skids large enough to accommodate the photobioreactor. The plant’s activity is managed automatically by the set of probes for automatic crop controls for continuous pH and temperature measurement. The probes must be connected and managed from a PC, both locally and remotely.
The students are involved right from the design phase in the production of the system. In fact, they, with the help of the teachers, decide the microbial species to breed. The market for molecules extracted from microbial populations is always very lively. From a statistical survey, it appears that the demand for Astaxanthin for the production of food supplements is growing. It is decided to start breeding Haematococcus pluvialis. The students must follow and monitor the entire production process, including the collection phase and subsequent extraction of the Astaxanthin through the use of the ultrasonic device for mixing and homogenizing, which is also among the Institute’s equipment. The product obtained, if it meets the criteria required by the market, can be put on sale.
To learn, to recover, to sell.
Edited by Aldo Carroccio, Science teacher
