Rutgers State University of New Jersey

Type	Disciplines
State University	Chemistry Nanobiology Nanofluidics
Address	Postal Code
Institute for Advanced Materials and Devices 136 Frelinghuysen Road	08854
City	State / Province
Piscataway	NJ
E-mail	Country
	USA
Web	Phone
link	(732) 445-4004
Fax

The National Science Foundation has awarded a $15 million Engineering Research Center for Structured Organic Composites grant to Rutgers and three collaborating universities to improve the way pharmaceuticals, foods and agricultural products are manufactured.

CENTER'S FOCUS

The five-year grant funds an NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) to enhance the quality and consistency of materials used in drug tablets, processed foods, agrichemicals and other composite organic products. Research will focus on the structure of component materials, including particle shapes and sizes and forces that bind them together. The center also will study how to efficiently produce structured materials in large quantity. Understanding the nature of these materials will provide a foundation for new manufacturing processes that are more predictable, consistent and cost-effective.

joining Rutgers in the consortium are the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Purdue University and the University of Puerto Rico, schools with established teaching and research programs in pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences and technology.

INDUSTRY FUNDING

In addition, 28 companies are providing $2.5 million in research funding during the ERC’s first year. the consortium expects to bring in as much as $40 million in additional support over the next 10 years from pharmaceutical and food makers as well as companies that supply manufacturing and analytical equipment.

NanoScienceWorks