Educational outreach materials for ERC Structured Organic Particulate Systems: Project overview

Rowan University chemical engineering students and faculty are working in collaboration with the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Engineering Research Center for Structured Organic Particulate Systems (C-SOPS) to create educational materials based on research being conducted on advanced pharmaceutical processing. The Center is hosted by Rutgers University and also involves Purdue University; the New Jersey Institute of Technology; and the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez. The goal of the Center is to become a national focal point for developing structured organic particulate systems used in pharmaceuticals and their manufacturing processes. Rowan University has partnered as an outreach/education member institution. The goal of our interaction is to contribute to SMET education at both K-12 and college levels through the integration of C-SOPS research into detailed homework problem sets, illustrative examples, demonstrations and case studies. The curriculum modules will be tailored to specific age levels by varying the technical content level. Completed educational materials will be incorporated into the C-SOPS website for use by the members of the Center and faculty at other schools. The overall goal will be to expand the impact of the Center through the field of education and outreach.