Pharmaceutical Engineering Track
This technical track provides undergraduate students a deeper focus in the area of Pharmaceutical Engineering. It is a supplement to the solid foundation in chemical engineering principles and practice that students will acquire in the CBE program.
Pharmaceutical engineering is an area of growing importance in healthcare and medicine. It is a field the majority of CBE undergraduates pursue after graduation. This list of courses supplements students' training in chemical engineering and equips them to contribute to the development of innovative drug delivery systems, manufacturing processes, and medical technologies. Knowledge and understanding in Pharmaceutical Engineering will prepare students to join a workforce that plays a crucial role in advancing technologies for drug development, production scale-up, and quality assurance. The courses include fundamental pharmaceutical science and engineering topics.
Requirements for Pharmaceutical Engineering Track
To fulfill the requirement for this track, students must complete two courses (6 credits total) with C or better grade for each course from the approved list below. Please note that some of the courses are not offered every year and you may need to complete additional courses to meet their pre-req requirements.
Certificate of Completion Form
To obtain a Certificate of Completion for Pharmaceutical Engineering technical track, fill out and submit the application form by April 30.
Approved Course List
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Credits: 3
Prerequisites: NoneThe course provides an introduction to pharmaceutical materials engineering as applied to designing and optimizing pharmaceutical processes and products. The course focuses on the production, characterization and usage of pharmaceutical materials. The course examines the relationship between pharmaceutical materials and pharmaceutical products.
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Credits: 3
Prerequisites: NoneThe course provides an introduction to synthesis, separation, and sterile processing and their applications to designing and optimizing pharmaceutical processes. Fundamentals of drug synthesis will be discussed using industrial pharmaceutical examples including separation, distillation, crystallization, filtration, lyophilization, and drying processes. This course focuses on the manufacturing steps used in production of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API).
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Credits: 3
Prerequisites: NoneThe course provides an introduction to the essential operations used in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products. The course discusses the pharmaceutical product life-cycle, variability, testing, and specifications of pharmaceutical ingredients. This course focuses on the manufacturing steps used in production of the Pharmaceutical Product or Dosage Form. Unit operations including blending, granulation, fluidized bed operations, milling, capsule filling, compaction, tablet coating and other processes will be addressed. Students learn to recognize how the output of one process is the input to the next process, and how deviations can cascade along the production sequence until they cause process failures. The course emphasizes design, scale-up, trouble-shooting, and optimization.
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Credits: 3
Prerequisites: NoneThe course provides an introduction to statistical analysis and experimental design methods and their applications to designing and optimizing pharmaceutical processes. Classic statistical concepts and methods will be discussed using pharmaceutical examples including product/process development scenarios, routine in-process and finished product testing, and failure investigations. Regulatory requirements for test of samples, sampling plans, tablet and capsule assay, content uniformity, hardness, friability, dissolution and bioavailability tests will be discussed in detail.
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Credits: 3
Prerequisites: NoneThe course discusses the application of engineering science principles to drug product development, drug administration to patients, and drug absorption and elimination in the body. The course discusses challenges in drug product development, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, pharmacologic activity, drug-target concepts and transport processes in the body. Concepts include routes of administration; fundamentals of drug delivery; kinetics of drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion; clearance concepts; and compartmental and physiological models. Students learn how to apply engineering science principles to model pharmaceutical processes and interpret pharmaceutical experiments. Fundamental issues relevant to the design of drug products having immediate release, delayed release, sustained release, and extended release profiles are reviewed. Generation and fate of metabolites is discussed.