BMPC Consortium Industrial Advisory Committee (IAC) meetings bring together established Consortium members and company representatives interested in membership to discuss the Consortium's current research program, to make suggestions for new projects, and to establish the Consortium budgets and activities. Please contact either Professor Georgakis or Joanna Huckins if you are interested in learning more about BMPC.

December 2007. BMPC presented its' first Progress Report on Batch Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals at the fifth meeting of the IAC on December 13, 2007.  Despite competing with the first major snow storm of the season, we had a successful and informative get-together.  David Vinson from Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. gave the keynote presentation entitled "A Novel Systematic Approach to Quantify  the Design and Operational Spaces of Pharmaceutical Processes" which the members found both interesting and informative. The next meeting will be held on April 24, 2008.  View Agenda

April 2007.  April – SRI students provided updates on the Consortium’s research program which aims to develop process understanding and modeling methodologies to both reduce the time the manufacturing process currently takes, and to facilitate the speedy implementation of the PAT initiative for all manufacturing plants.  Participants were encouraged to give their comments and suggestions on the student’s research as well as their ideas for new research projects that they would find beneficial.  View Agenda

October 2006. BMPC's October 24th Industrial Advisory Committee (IAC) meeting, composed of Consortium members and company representatives interested in exploring membership, successfully crystallized (no pun intended!) the Consortium's research program. The next IAC meeting is scheduled for Wednesday April 25th, 2007.  View Agenda.

We were also thrilled to welcome our newest Consortium member, Sepracor Inc.

May 2006. The SRI Industrial Consortium on Batch Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals (BMPC) launched its operations with the first Industrial Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday May 25, 2006. The purpose of this meeting was to develop the Consortium's specific research program and industrial membership.

The meeting began with a series of presentations from the Institute's graduate students (in the photo,
L-R: Foteini Makrydaki, Lisa Schupmann, Praveen Prasanna, Fernando Lima and Sze Wing Wong) to provide an overview of current research projects to the committee. The afternoon was spent in an open forum brainstorming session to develop specific research topics for Ph.D. theses to be supported by the Consortium. The event was a success, and we anticipate a bright future for the Consortium. View Agenda.

March 2006.  SRI's March 8 meeting explored the benefits a company would receive by joining the consortium. Research leading to designing more efficient processes would enhance the speed of development  and contribute to more efficient plant operations. The consortium would bring together the often separate worlds of industry and academia by promoting a cooperative effort between the two.  Professor Georgakis gave a brief history of his extensive and successful experience  with an Industry-University Cooperative Consortium at Lehigh University. This consortium included more than 30 companies and resulted in over 100 research papers. Membership in the consortium would enable individual companies to leverage their funds, jointly define research with faculty, obtain frequent briefings on research, and provide a place for a technical exchange among industrial representatives. View Agenda

June 2005.  The first meeting of the proposed consortium between industry and academia represented by the Systems Research Institute for Chemical and Biological Processes was held today, 6/27/05. The purpose of the meeting was to define the mission of the research program, obtain feedback from representatives of industry, and delineate the operational characteristics of the program. Dr. Paul Barton from M.I.T. gave a stimulating discussion entitled “Simulation, Sensitivity Analysis, and Optimization to Accelerate the Development of Pharmaceutical Processes”. Dr. Roger Bakale from Sepracor, Dr. John Lepore from Merck, and Dr. Jason Mustakis from Pfizer explained how such a collaboration would benefit industry. The first meeting of the IDC will be held on May 15. Its purpose will be to define the initial research program. View Agenda