Introduction to Engineering Design: 3D Pharmaceuticals

3D pharming is emerging field that tries to achieve more patient-specific drug dosages and delivery rates, which can be tailored towards each patient's age, weight, height, genotype, etc. This direction in medicine has become possible with development of 3D-printed pill capsules and laser print bioinks—aqueous hydrogel formulations with correct mechanical properties to interact with 3D printer, on demand. Bioinks are able to dissolve drugs and polymerize into solid to form drug delivery vehicle. Students learn basic fundamentals of how to 3D print pill capsule and polymerize hydrogel within it. Students are guided through process of designing research experiment, analyzing data, and presenting their findings to others.

Letter grading.