Since 2017, the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield has been implementing a new undergraduate curriculum.  Additionally, a new MSc course in Pharmaceutical Engineering has commenced.  In both curricula there is significant emphasis on particle technology, acknowledging the importance of particulate products to manufacturing industries worldwide.

In this presentation, relevant changes and new inclusion to the curricula are highlighted.  Of particular note is the integration of a continuous pharmaceutical processing facility (the GEA Consima 25), consisting of a twin screw granulator, fluid bed dryer, milling and tableting steps.   Additionally, the use of computational population balance modelling for particulate processes has been introduced to both the undergraduate and the postgraduate taught curricula, and the opportunities and challenges this presents will be discussed.

Dr Rachel Smith is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield, with expertise in industrial particulate manufacturing across pharmaceutical, agri-chemical, consumer and battery manufacturing industries.  Her research focuses on the development of micro-scale knowledge of particle-particle and particle-fluid interactions, and using this to advance mechanistic understanding of particulate manufacturing processes and product performance.  Processes of interest include granulation, particle coating, spherical agglomeration, and fluidized bed processes. Her work uses both experimental and computational methods to address industrial particle processing opportunities and challenges. Rachel holds a BEng (Hons) and PhD from the University of Queensland, Australia, and joined the University of Sheffield in 2012.