(127b) Industrial Academic Green Engineering Partnerships in Pharmaceutical Production

Student projects have examined how to apply green engineering strategies to both research and development as well as manufacturing in several specialty chemical industries. This has been accomplished through industry-university partnerships with pharmaceutical and petrochemical companies. Several grants from the US Environmental Protection Agency have supported initiatives in green chemistry, engineering and design. These projects have the broader goal of supporting sustainability in the chemical industry.

We have sought to improve on our concept of green engineering education integration in a way that not only enhances student learning, but improves the environment. This is through real-world projects in our engineering clinic sequence [8]. The green engineering projects use a vertically integrated student team of junior, senior and masters level engineering students who work with the industrial partner on approaches to pollution prevention. These projects provide an illustration of how companies can take advantage of universities in their region to assist in sustainable development and manufacturing. Students are able to learn about green engineering design and apply their knowledge directly to a real industrial case. The industries involved partner by providing support in terms of senior staff, scientific/engineering process data, access to plant facilities, and take initiatives recommended forward to process improvements on the plant scale. The industries examined represent two distinct industrial sectors, thus providing student teams with unique challenges in designing for the environment. We expect these projects to yield the following green engineering outcomes which will be described in further detail in the paper.

? solvent reduction (in both quantities and toxicity) ? green engineering approach in initial phases of drug development to o increase efficiency in use of raw materials and energy o reduction in pollutant liquid waste ? energy conservation/recovery through life cycle assessment of processes