Two Stevens student projects featured at ISPE Conference, Nov. 4-7

HOBOKEN, N.J. — Two projects from Stevens Institute of Technology students will be among those represented at the Student Poster Contest at the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, November 4 to 7, 2007.

The two projects were selected at the regional Student Poster Contest sponsored by NJ Chapter of ISPE that was held at the Stevens Babbio Center in April 2007. It was organized and hosted by Dr. Richard S. Berkof, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Director of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Engineering Program, and Faculty Advisor for the Stevens Student Chapter of ISPE. Ilene Banoud, President of the Stevens Student Chapter, assisted in the local effort, as did Dr. Leonid Shnayder, of the PME faculty. Support by Dr. Costas Chassapis, Director, Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Camilla Minervini, Administrative Assistant in the Mechanical Engineering department, were critical to the success of this event.

This regional contest was attended by students and faculty from Stevens, Rutgers, and NJIT, as well as pharmaceutical industry executives, some of whom served as judges for the posters and presentations. Stevens had eight entries in the poster contest of the 20 submissions.

One of the winning entries from Stevens was the Impedance Mammography project, led by Katherine Freed. Team members included Megan Caldeira, Rachel Ostroff and Esther Rogriguez. The team’s advisors were Vikki Hazelwood, Senior Lecturer in the Chemical, Biomedical and Materials Engineering department and Rainer Martini, Assistant Professor of Physics and Engineering Physics.

The overall winning project was the Automatic Pill Bottle Opener, which was also a winning Senior Design Project in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Stevens Institute of Technology, completed in May 2007. It was developed by the student team of Jorge DaSilva, Jay Peterson, Murat Kocak, and William Indoe. The team’s faculty advisor was Dr. Richard Berkof.

This project was supported by a generous grant from the New Jersey Chapter of ISPE.

The Automatic Pill Bottle Opener is the first fully automatic device of its kind.  It features a self centering, lowering, and rotating assembly to accommodate medication containers of all shapes, sizes, and enclosure types. Short, tall, square, round, and oval bottles alike can all be opened effortlessly using this universal device. This product is targeted at individuals suffering from arthritis, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and any other cause for general muscle weakness and reduced grip strength. These individuals generally have difficulties opening standard childproof closures. The objective was to facilitate this process through the development of a fully automatic consumer device to provide a universal solution for removing medication container closures.

Jorge DaSilva graduated top of his class from Stevens in May 2007. He received a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering, along with a Master of Engineering in Systems Engineering. After graduation, he joined Johnson & Johnson's Global Operations Leadership Development Program (G.O.L.D.). As part of his first rotation he is working as a Mechanical Engineer in the Engineering Technology Innovations group for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Company.

Jay Peterson graduated from Stevens in May 2007 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering degree. Following graduation, he is working as an Associate Field Professional for Halliburton Energy Services in their Logging and Perforating Division, Woodward, Okla.  

Murat Kocak graduated from Stevens in May 2007 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering degree. Following graduation, he is working at Buck, Seifert and Jost Inc., and is pursuing his master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.

William Indoe graduated from Stevens with a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering degree. Following graduation, he is working as a Mechanical Design Engineer at Hamilton Sundstrand, Space, Land, & Sea, Windsor Locks, Conn.

About the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering

ISPE has about 25,000 members worldwide and is the Society for Life Science Professionals. It encompasses all healthcare technologies in the Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Medical Devices, Personal Care, and related industries: Engineering (Chemical, Industrial, Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Process, Environmental, Biomedical), Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, Life Sciences (Biology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Chemistry), Architecture, Construction, and Design, and Computer Science and Engineering.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

For the latest news about Stevens, please visit StevensNewsService.com.