Development of Problem Sets for Undergraduates On Pharmaceutical Particulate Systems

Educational problem sets have been developed on structured organic particulate systems (SOPS) used in pharmaceutical technology. The sets present topics such as pharmaceutical particle properties and powder flow and can be integrated into K-12 and college level curriculum. The materials educate students in specific areas of pharmaceutical particulate processing, such as tableting and mixing, and engineering topics, such as material and energy balances. The problems are designed to be incorporated into existing courses by presenting an alternative class assignment while still covering the same course objective. Initial efforts have focused on introductory chemical engineering courses at the freshman and sophomore level. Some materials for K-12 have also been proposed. The educational development is part of the Rowan outreach efforts associated with the NSF-sponsored ERC on SOPS at Rutgers University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Purdue University and the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez.