Motivating K-12 students to study pharmaceutical engineering using guided hands-on visits

The pharmaceutical industry is important for the economy of Puerto Rico and is currently trying to improve the understanding of the science and fundamentals behind its operations. The main objectives of our Education and Outreach program at the University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez (UPRM), as a member of the Engineering Research Center for Structured Organic Particulate Systems, include the use of K-12 activities to improve student recruitment and to train engineering graduates who are able to disseminate and apply their knowledge across disciplines and advance technology. Here we report the results of an educational initiative where graduate and undergraduate students guide K-12 students through a series of hands-on modules in a pharmaceutical operations laboratory. The modules include solid mixing, tablet compression and tablet dissolution. The students are also exposed to demonstrations about combustible dust and an automated tablet press. The aim of these guided visits is to introduce middle and high school students to basic concepts of Pharmaceutical Engineering in an interactive way and motivate them to attend the University preferably in a related area. From to 2008 to 2011, this initiative impacted 328 students and 18 teachers from 11 K-12 schools in Puerto Rico, 20 undergraduate and 6 graduate students of the Chemical Engineering Department at UPRM. A comparison of the preliminary and final tests demonstrated that the students are learning new pharmaceutical concepts and the results of the satisfaction survey indicate that almost 89% of the participants rated the visits as excellent.