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Content
New Grants
ERC Graduates
SLC
Awards and Recognitions
Recent Events
Industrial Liaison’s Report
Member Companies
Presentations & Publications
Upcoming Events
We launch this, the first center newsletter, at a busy time. We just completed our full second year of operations and, less than a month ago, we issued our second annual report to the NSF. We are currently in the midst of preparations for the third site visit, which is also the occasion for evaluation of C-SOPS for funding renewal. Following the site visit, we will issue the annual report to all our Center members and partners. One might wonder why, in the middle of all of these activities, we took the time to issue our first newsletter.
The reason is simple – We feel that now, more than ever, we need to expand our avenues of communication with our members. Research activities at C-sops in the last year have accelerated considerably, and research productivity (ideas, research results, publications, talks) is increasing rapidly. By the time the annual report was concluded, it was already outdated: several new manuscripts had been approved for publication, new companies had joined the center, several new grants had been obtained by the faculty, and so forth. Thus, we need a more effective vehicle for summarizing and communicating these developments in a timely and focused manner.
In addition, it has become clear that the tangible outputs of the ERC need to be highlighted in a separate communication that is focused on output. This focus will allow us to highlight results and outcomes so that they can be more clearly perceived, so that our members can be aware of them and take advantage of them faster.
Fernando J. Muzzio,
Simultaneous size reduction and surface modification of active pharmaceutical ingredients using Fluid Energy Mill (FEM)
According to the Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS), both Class II and Class IV drugs have poor solubility. As per the Noyes–Whitney equation, which describes the relationship between particle size, diffusion layer coefficient, and drug saturated solubility, reducing particle size is a promising way to improve the dissolution rate. However, when the particle size is reduced, particles become cohesive and do not flow well, which affects unit operations like blending, tabletting and leads to problems like lack of content uniformity resulting in significant loss of revenue. We are developing tools to improve flow of such powders through surface modification methods, which may be dry coating of original poorly flowing powders with nano silica (physically altering the surface structure), surface treatment (chemically altering the surface structure) or continuous grinding and coating techniques. In this work, in order to increase the dissolution of drugs while maintaining the flowability of drugs, nano-size guest particles are coated on the surface of drugs (host particles) through a novel approach of simultaneous size reduction and surface modification by using Fluid Energy mill (FEM) is applied to enhance the flowability and solubility of API. The major novelty here is the simultaneous coating and size reduction and use of super-hydrophobic materials such as Leucein for surface modification. As shown below, we can achieve free-flowing well-dispersed particles of APAP (Acetaminophen) in size range 1-5 microns, where the API loading is over 95 %. This can have applicability to inhalation drug delivery.
Precipitation of Poorly Water Soluble Drugs: Effect of Aqueous Solubility on Particle Size
Mixing of organic solution of poorly water-soluble drug with water reduces equilibrium solubility of API in the aqueous mixture (as shown in graph in top-left of the figure above for Griseofulvin-acetone-water system; the three SEM images are particles precipitated for various APIs). This induces supersaturation and leads to nucleation in the solution. Nuclei formed in the solution grow by the processes of coagulation and condensation. Nucleation and growth are simultaneous processes and compete for supersaturation generated in the solution. Therefore, higher nucleation rates (J) lead to negligible particle growth and hence precipitation of nanoparticles. The degree of supersaturation (ln S) generated is very high for API with very low aqueous solubility (Cw) [e.g. Itraconazole, ln S = 16.2] as compared to the API with comparatively higher aqueous solubility [e.g. Sulfomethoxazole, ln S = 2.1]. Hence, size of particles precipitated for more hydrophobic APIs [e.g. Itraconazole, PS = 0.79 (± 0.66) µm] is smaller than particles of comparatively more hydrophilic API [e.g. Sulfomethoxazole, PS =31.7 (± 21.3) µm]. This allows for understanding the influence of the basic material properties on final particle size and provides us the way to develop a knowledge that can be used for developing a predictive understanding of particle formation.
Hardware and Software Integration
The DeltaV system from Emerson Process Management has been received, installed, configured, and connected to the test bed 1 set up at Rutgers. This system is similar, in terms of structure and specifications, to the ones used at most major pharmaceutical companies. The system has capacity for the typical analog and discrete signals plus advanced capabilities for digital communication such as Profibus DP, DeviceNet, and Serial. It is the critical piece to integrate sensors (NIR, temperature, flow rate, etc) with the powder processing units (feeders, mixer, and tablet press) under advanced control.
ERC-SOPS help kids EXPLORE ENGINEERING National Engineers Week 2009
The annual National Engineers Week event is enjoyed by hundreds of visitors to the Liberty Science Center every February. The festival features dozens of hands-on activities provided by local engineering chapters and national organizations. Every year at the start of Engineer's Week, the impressive main hall of the Science Center is taken over by hundreds of children of all ages experiencing the excitement of science and engineering activities. The event took place on Monday February 16th from 8am-3pm at Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, NJ. Engineering organizations and other students from Rutgers and NJIT attended helping kids with experiments and answering questions. This was an opportunity for them to give back their communities by bringing the public’s attention to the science.
Science and Engineering Careers for Girls
Society of Women Engineers and ERC-SOPS ‘Engineering the Future’ outreach program works with the Douglass Project to help girls explore science and engineering careers. The Douglas Science Career Exploration Day took place on Saturday February 28th from 9am-3pm. This day is designed for 11th and 12th grade students who are interested in exploring careers related mathematics, the sciences, and engineering. The program featured outstanding guests from the scientific research community who speak on relevant topics. Speakers included representatives from Lucent Technologies, Colgate-Palmolive Company, Sun Microsystems, Schering-Plough Research Institute, Mobil-Exxon Corporation, Ethicon, Inc. and many departments within Rutgers University. Students participating in the program met and talked with women role models who have excelled in the fields of math, science, and engineering, and learned about their educational experiences, career-related activities, and research projects. Fields represented include biochemistry, pharmacology, chemistry, environmental sciences, molecular biology, physics, mathematics, plus all disciplines of engineering. Informative workshops helped shed light on the college admissions process, financial aid availability, and issues of educational equity were offered to parents. Associate Director for Education, Aisha Lawrey moderated a panel about “Life as a Woman Engineer”. The student chapter of SWE (Society of Women Engineers) at Rutgers University talked to the girls about college life as a female student and the challenges they face every day.
NEW GRADUATE COURSE at Rutgers in 2009
Pharmaceutical Organic Nanotechnology 16: 155:544. 3 Credit Graduate Course. Dr. Bozena Michniak is Course Co-Coordinator with C. Roth Spring 2009. This course covers the basics as well as the most novel approaches to nanotechnology, nanocarriers and drug delivery.
NEW Degree Program at NJIT in 2009
Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Bioprocessing, first class this Fall 2009.
"Optimization and control of microdispensing of liquids and suspensions into hard capsules," Capsugel Inc., to F.J. Muzzio (PI), P. Takhistov (Co-PI), and Bozena Michniak-Kohn (Co-PI).
“Minimizing Feeder Variability in Continuous Processing,” Haldor Topsoe A/S, to F.J. Muzzio (PI).
ERC Graduates
Eddie Davis, (PhD), Rutgers, Epic Systems
Amit Mehotra, (PhD), Rutgers, GlaxoSmithKline
Marcos Llusa, (PhD), Rutgers, ERC Research Associate
Patricia Brieva, (PhD) Rutgers, ERC Research Associate
Keirnan LaMarche, (PhD), Rutgers, Bristol Myers Squibb
Divya Jonnavitula, (MS), Rutgers, Chicago Iron & Bridge
Lealaf Hailemariam, (PhD), Purdue, Dow Chemical
Pradeep Suresh Babu, (PhD), Purdue, Dow Chemical
Juan Camilo Zapata, (PhD), Purdue, Eli Lilly
Yuhua Chen, (PhD), NJIT, Marlyn Nutraceuticals, Inc.
Daniel Lepek, (PhD), NJIT, Cooper Union
Giuseppe DiBenedetto, (PhD), NJIT, Picatinny
Anagha Bhakay, (MS), NJIT, ERC Research Associate
Ankit H. Patel, (MS), NJIT, Catalent
SLC Recruits The Best and The Brightest for ERC
Vital to the success of the Center is the continued arrival of the finest students into the graduate programs at each of the member institutions. In this regard, the Student Leadership Council (SLC) has made a significant effort to publicize the activities of the ERC to ensure the future of C-SOPS is just as bright as the present. Members of the SLC have attended two major undergraduate national conferences within the past year to spread the word about the wonderful opportunities at the Center. Matthew Metzger from Rutgers and Lauren Beach from NJIT attended the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in Orlando, FL in November 2008 to attract students for the graduate and summer programs from all over the United States and Puerto Rico from majors ranging from Mathematics to Cellular Biology. Later in the month, Eric Jayjock from Rutgers and Micaela Caramellino from NJIT joined Matt and Lauren at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) in Philadelphia, PA to continue their recruiting ways and entice graduating chemical engineers to apply to all of our graduate programs. Along the way, the crew also made a trip a little closer to home to Columbia University in New York City in hopes of continuing the tradition of Columbia graduates attending both NJIT and Rutgers. They are happy to report that many of the recruits have applied to the various programs and some have even come on campus for prospective student visits. We hope to see a few familiar faces in the summer and upcoming fall semester! In the future the SLC hopes to expand its recruiting efforts and attract students from all across the country.
- Promotions to full Professor: Dr. Bo Michniak, Dr. Marianthi Ierapetritou, and Dr. Ben Glasser.
- Promotion to Associate Professor w/Tenure: Dr. Rodolfo Pinal.
- Dr. Ben Glasser won the Teacher-Scholar award.
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Dr. Venkat Venkatasubramanian was elected Fellow of the Teaching Academy, Purdue University.
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Dr. Doraiswami Ramkrishna was inducted as a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
- Dan Braido won ISPE Poster Award, Rutgers University, March 21. 2009.
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Lauren Beach was selected to receive one of the 2009 Schering-Plough Science and Innovation Awards.
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Laila Jallo was selected to participate in The Dana Knox Student Research Showcase at NJIT that will be held on Wednesday April 8 from 1:00 – 3:30 in the Campus Center Gallery. They will present their ERC research in a poster competition.
Seminar Series
Rutgers Spring ERC Seminar Series
College Level students need more than only scientific research. The ERC presented the first event in its spring seminar series entitled “You’re Hired!” The Building Blocks to Career Search on Monday February 16th at 10am in the Biomedical Engineering Building at Rutgers University to kick off National Engineers Week. This event was open to all undergraduate and graduate students in the ERC as well as the Chemical Engineering department. Many companies complain of students not being fully prepared for the business and not understanding the big picture. Students are missing the soft skills like networking, communication, presentation, and public speaking needed for the scientific positions. Michael Goldberg, founder of Building Blocks Consulting and a recognized expert in career search and business communication will deliver the series. Michael is an award-winning adjunct professor at Rutgers University, trainer, and consultant to numerous companies in the insurance, financial services, and banking industries. The two remaining seminars are Networking/ Communication Dynamics and Public Speaking. The seminar series locations, dates, and times will be announced soon.
NJIT-Site presented Graduate Seminar Otto York Department of Chemical Engineering
“Pharmaceutical Materials Science: Impact of crystal properties on the mechanical properties of particles, powders and tablets” presented by Gregory E. Amidon, Ph.D., Research Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Co-director, Pharmaceutical Engineering Program University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, held on Monday, February 16, 2009, at 2:45 PM, Room 205, NJIT Kupfrian Hall; and “Next Generation Nano Carriers for Multifunctional Drug Delivery, Imaging, and Targeting- How do we make them?” presented by Robert K. Prud’homme, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ on Monday, February 23, 2009, at 2:45 PM, Room 205, NJIT Kupfrian Hall.
Industrial Liaison’s Report
New Members
Two new industrial partners have joined our growing family of members. Our latest Level 2 member is Malvern Instruments. The company provides a range of particle analysis (size, shape, chemical composition) and rheological instrumentation for the characterization of particulates and disperse systems, nanomaterials and macromolecules.
PharmaLaser has joined the Center as a Level 4 member. Its Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), API and Lubricant Blend/Tablet Concentration Uniformity, Film Coating Thickness, Homogeneity studies and 2D/3D Mapping.
Malvern and Pharmalaser are welcome additions to the center; their equipment and their expertise will certainly help us accelerate our research program. Welcome aboard!
Steering Committee / Science Advisory Board Meeting
The Center Steering Committee met jointly with the Science Advisory Board on February 2 and 3 in San Juan, PR. Both groups unanimously approved the thrust and project reorganization as presented by the thrust leaders. There were many valuable suggestions and comments, but everyone agreed that the new thrusts had much better connectivity than the old ones. . Project scopes were clearer and the division of a few projects into several narrower ones will allow more efficient management and expedited progress. Additional items for discussion were the revised intellectual property / publication process, some improvements to the project evaluation procedure. Changes to the mentor program were discussed, but postponed pending approval of the project reorganization.
Malvern
Boehringer Ingelheim
Eli Lilly
Glaxo Smith Kline
Johnson & Johnson
Merck & Co.
Pepsico
Pfizer
Schering Plough
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals
Aztrazeneca Pharmaceuticals
Camp
DEM Solutions
Itasca
K-Tron
Procter & Gamble
Sepracor Inc.
Tunnel Consulting
Allergan
Catalent Pharma Solutions
Schenk Accurate
Metropolitan Computing Corp
Presentations & Publications
Pingali, K. C., Hammond, S. V., Muzzio, F. J., and Shinbrot, T. “Use of a static eliminator to improve powder flow,” International Journal of Pharmaceutics 369, 2–4 (2009).
Pingali, K. C., Shinbrot, T., Hammond, S. V., and Muzzio, F. J., “An observed correlation between flow and electrical properties of pharmaceutical blends,” Powder Technology 192, 157–165 (2009).
Mehrotra, A., Chaudhuri, B., Faqih, A., Tomassone, M.S., and Muzzio, F.J., “A modeling approach for understanding effects of powder flow properties on tablet weight variability,” Powder Technology 188, 295-300 (2009).
Fichana, D., Marchut, A. J., Ohlsson, P. H., Chang, O.Lyngberg, S.Y., Dougherty, J., Kiang, S., Stamato, H., Chaudhuri, B., and Muzzio, F., “Experimental and Model Based Approaches to Studying Mixing in Coating Pans,” Pharmaceutical Development and Technology 14, 173 – 184 (2009).
Neimark, A.V., Lin, Y., Ravikovitch, P.I., and Thommes, M., “Quenched solid density functional theory and pore size analysis of micro-mesoporous carbons,” Carbon, 2009, published on web.
Vercaemst, C., Friedrich, H., de Jongh, P., Neimark, A.V., Goderis, B., Verpoort, F., Van Der Voort, P., “Periodic mesoporous organosilicas consisting of 3D hexagonally ordered interconnected globular pores,” Journal Physical Chemistry, 2009, published on web.
Miyasaka, K., Neimark, A.V., and Terasaki, O., “Density functional theory of in-situ synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction on mesoporous crystals: Argon adsorption on MCM-41,” Journal Physical Chemistry, 2009, V. 113, p. 791-794.
Kimmel, H., Hirsch, L. S., Simon, L., Burr-Alexander, L., Dave, R. N., “Implementing Concepts of Pharmaceutical Engineering into High School Science Classrooms,” Chemical Engineering Education, Submitted November 2008, Accepted March 2009.
To, D., Yin, X., Sundaresan, S., Dave, R.N., “Investigation of Nano-particle Aggregate Deagglomeration via the Rapid Expansion of High-Pressure Suspensions in Carbon Dioxide Through an Orifice,” AIChE Journal, submitted August 2008, revised version submitted January 2009, accepted February 2009.
Jiang, X., Trunov, M.A., Schoenitz, M., Dave, R.N., and Dreizin, E.L., “Mechanical Alloying and Reactive Milling in a High Energy Planetary Mill,” Acta Materialia, in press, 2009.
Chen, Y., Quintanilla, M. A. S., Yang, J., Valverde, J. M., and Dave, R. N., “Pull-off Force of Coated Fine Powders under Small Consolidation,” Physical Review E, submitted, June 2008, accepted February 2009.
Chen, Y., Yang, J., Dave, R. N., and Pfeffer, R., “Granulation of Cohesive Geldart Group C Powders in a Mini-Glatt Fluidized Bed,” Powder Technology, 191 (2009) 206–217.
Sanganwar, G.P., Ermoline, A., Scicolone, J.V., Dave, R.N., and Gupta, R. B., “Environmentally Benign Nano-mixing by Sonication in Supercritical CO2,” Journal of Nanoparticle Research, Volume 11, Issue 2 (2009), pp 405-419.
Chen, Y., Yang, J., and Dave, R. N., “Fluidized Bed Film Coating of Cohesive Geldart Group C Powders,” Powder Technology, 189 (2009) 466–480.
Meng, X., Chen, Y., Chowdhury, S. R., Yang, D., Mitra, S., “Stabilizing dispersions of hydrophobic drug molecules using cellulose ethers during anti-solvent synthesis of micro-particulates,” Colloids Surf. B: Biointerf. 70 (2009) 7–14.
Bai, G., and Armenante, P. M., “Hydrodynamic, Mass Transfer and Dissolution Effects Induced by Tablet Location during Dissolution Testing,” J. Pharm. Sci., 98(4): 1511-1531, 2009.
Venkatasubramanian, V., “Drowning in Data: Informatics and Modeling Challenges in a Data Rich Networked World,” Perspective article, AIChE J., 55(1), p. 2-8. 2009. *(Invited paper, featured on the cover page).
Alcalà, M., Ropero, J., Vázquez, R., and Romañach, R.J., “Deconvolution Of Chemical And Physical Information From Intact Tablets NIR Spectra. Two-And Three-Way Multivariate Calibration Strategies For Drug Quantitation,” Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Published online in Wiley Inter Science (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI10.1002/jps. 21634., published on-line December 12, 2008.
National Society of Black Engineers
High School Outreach Weekend
April 3-5, 2009
Rutgers University
Lunch and Learn Seminar Series Part 2
Networking / Communication Dynamics
April 13, 2009 11am-1pm
Rutgers University-BME 116
Leadership / Team Building
Professional Development
April 18, 2009 10am-12pm
Rutgers University - BCC Room 116 ABC
June 1 – August 7, 2009
Rutgers University
June - August, 2009
NJIT
Workshops (Topics to be Announced)
June 3, 2009
NJIT
June 4 and 5, 2009
NJIT
June 3-5, 2009
NJIT
Research for High School juniors and seniors
June 20 – August 25, 2009
Rutgers University
November 29 - December 1, 2009
Purdue University
April 7-8, 2010
Puerto Rico
Rutgers The State University
Charanjeet Kaur
732-445-6709
ckaur@rci.rutgers.edu
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Rutgers The State University of New Jersey
98 Brett Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854
Purdue University
Teresa Lee Cadwallader
765-496-3885
tic3764@purdue.edu
School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Purdue University
575 Stadium Mall Drive
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2091
NJIT
Lynn Failla
973-596-2457
failla@njit.edu
Chemical Engineering
New Jersey Institute of Technology
University Heights
Newark, N.J. 07102
UPRM
Carmen V. Santiago
787-832-4040 x3256
carmenv@ece.uprm.edu
Chemical Engineering
University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus
P O Box 9046
Mayaguez, PR 00681
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