Pharmaceutical Engineering is a career based on the well being of today's society. As the number of diseases and medical problems in crease, so do the number of jobs in this criteria.  Pharmaceutical Engineering is a career developing with the technology.  The number of possibilities is huge when it comes to the types of medication, how much of a medication, and how this medication gets distributed. in a time when this country need jobs, Pharmaceutical Engineers open many different occupations for the educated and non educated.

Pharmaceutical engineers are responsible for the research and creation of prescription and 'over the counter' medicine(Laconi 2011, 2; Liden 2011, 1; Anonymous b 2011, 1).  "Pharmaceutical Engineers are vital to improving the health and well being of society through the development, large scale production, packaging and delivery of health-care products (Anonymous 2011a, 1)."  Pharmaceutical Engineers are involved in the process of making raw materials into pharmaceuticals(Liden 2011, 1).  One of a Pharmaceutical Engineer's job is to design and include "economically viable manufacturing processes" to produce pharmaceutical compounds in a manner that is safe.  Pharmaceutical Engineers are also in charge of designing and creating packaging of these drugs, as well has shipping and distribution (Laconi 2011, 1).  Pharmaceutical Engineers participate in teams working to discover new pharmaceutical compounds and develop them for the market  (Anonymous 2011a, 2).They also determine the exact quantity of each variable needed to form a given quantity of new pharmaceutical compounds  (Anonymous 2011a, 2).Another thing they do is produce pharmaceutical compounds on a scale for testing to ensure safety and efficacy  (Anonymous 2011a, 2).Also they brainstorm the chemistry to produce pharmaceutical compounds in a consistent manner  (Anonymous 2011a, 2).


The first step to become a pharmaceutical engineer usually is to apply in an engineering program at a college or university. Employers often give more attention to students who have a record in chemical or mechanical engineering. Once someone has completed their courses, they may increase their chances of getting a job by going on to earn a master's degree in pharmaceutical engineering. Students with a master's degree in pharmaceutical engineering may have a better chance at landing interviews with potential employers  (Vansanth S. 2011, 1). Master's programs usually accept students who have an outstanding record from past schools. Usually, a GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in chemical or mechanical engineering is required, along with high scores on admissions tests. Students graduating from other science majors may also be considered if they complete the standard pre-requisite courses needed for the pharmaceutical engineering program. These courses cover topics such as differential equations, business math and statistics,  chemical kinetics, and heat transfer and mass transfer  (Vansanth S. 2011, 2). The Master's degree program in pharmaceutical engineering provides in-depth training for those who want to become a pharmaceutical engineer  (Vansanth S. 2011, 2).  'Master's programs generally have two tracks: drug substance manufacturing and drug product manufacturing. The drug substance manufacturing track focuses on the chemical reactions and separation processes used to manufacture the active ingredients of a drug. The drug product manufacturing track focuses on the processes required to produce the final drug product  (Vansanth S. 2011, 3)."

  "The New Jersey Institute of Technology is a public institution in Newark with more than 8,300 undergraduate and graduate students. In 2010, the U.S. News and World Report ranked the colleges engineering program 86th in the United States. The university offers a Master of Science in pharmaceutical engineering. Admission to the program is typically reserved for students with a bachelors degree in mechanical or chemical engineering, though the university will also consider applicants with a bachelors degree in a natural science or another engineering specialty. Students in the program can elect to study processes that involve pharmaceutical ingredients or the technology of drugs. The latter program requires coursework in packaging science and facility design, while the ingredient concentration includes classes in reaction engineering and separation processes. Both courses of study culminate in a final masters thesis(Harrison 2011, 1)."  "The University of Michigan received the eighth-place ranking among all engineering programs in the United States from U.S. News and World Report in 2010. More than 41,000 students attend courses at the public university. The school offers a combined Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering and Master of Engineering in chemical engineering degree program that allows students to receive both an undergraduate and graduate degree with five years of full-time study. The college also grants a traditional two-year Master of Engineering in pharmaceutical engineering and a PhD in pharmaceutical engineering. Students in the traditional master's program can specialize in pharmaceutical development science, bio-pharmaceutical manufacturing science, electronic clinical computer systems or regulatory science (Harrison 2011, 2)."  "Rutgers University is a public research university with three campuses throughout the state of New Jersey. The university features an extensive catalog of academic programs at all levels, ranging from undergraduate to post-doctoral courses of study. Rutgers offers a variety of educational opportunities for those aspiring to work in the pharmaceutical industry, hosted by the university's School of Engineering on the New Brunswick campus. The university's chemical engineering undergraduate students have the option to take courses from the graduate pharmaceutical engineering catalog, with departmental permission. Two graduate programs include a Master of Engineering in Pharmaceutical Engineering and Science, as well as a Master of Science in Chemical and Bio-mechanical Engineering with an option in Pharmaceutical Engineering. Additionally, Rutgers offers a PhD in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering with an Option in Pharmaceutical Engineering. Non-degree students can also take pharmaceutical engineering-related courses  (Cole 2011, 3)."

The salary of a Pharmaceutical Engineer is highly dependent on the experience of the employee.  A Pharmaceutical Engineer can earn anywhere from $60,000 to $90,000 in the largest Pharmaceutical factory.  For a less experienced worker or someone who is doesn't engineer the pharmaceuticals can earn anywhere from $35,000 to $65,000 (Anonymous 2011b, 3).  Salary is also dependent on what kind of pharmaceutical are produced and distributed from there.  If it is a less demanded drug, then this factory will be earning less money than a factory selling a drug that is in very high demand (Anonymous 2011b, 3).

The future outlook of this vocation seems to be growing without a doubt.  As the demand for more and more vaccinations and boosters rise so does the demand for this occupation.  The market of Healthcare is changing because of the consumers.  The consumers now know a lot more than they use to and they are trying to get the producers(Pharmaceutical Companies) to give them more for less.  Now a days people are trying as hard as they can to stay healthy and most of them are reverting to medication and vitamins.  With this rise in demand the pharmaceutical companies are in a higher demand to get these drugs produced and distributed.  With the amounts or research that needs to be done to create new pharmaceuticals for the diseases that are a problem that every one doesn't want to deal with there is an even higher demand for this occupation, and with all this new research, the industries are going to need more engineers to get these new medications out into society to fill the demands.  Since there will most likely be no cure for every disease in the world because of co-evolution of these pathogens there will be a constant demand for this work.  So no matter which way you look at it,  there is a cycle:  with more demand comes a better future for this industry  (Mendricks 2011, 1). 


Pharmaceutical Engineering has many branches of research and innovative developments.  First of all they go into many branches of biology including: Bio-environmental engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Biochemical Engineering  (Anonymous 2011c, 1, 2, 3).  Some research includes solving environmental problems related to human activities, "research in molecular systems bioengineering, bio-materials and tissue engineering, bio-nanotechnology, bio-mechanics, rehabilitation engineering, and biomedical imaging" (Anonymous 2011b, 3).  Pharmaceutical Engineers have also developed closed to all of the vaccinations and boosters people take to stay alive when they are very young.  some of these medications include: Tylenol, Advil, Midol and almost any other drug you can buy or get a prescription for and that is taken orally, by shots or inhaled for medicinal purposes are produced by pharmaceutical engineer  (Anonymous 2011b, 3) 

In conclusion, Pharmaceutical Engineering is an important occupation for the survival of this world.  The number of possible jobs and occupations that come with pharmaceutical engineering can benefit the world in many ways.  It creates jobs for the educated and uneducated people, it supplies the demand of the people, and it protects the world the the nasty outside that wants to take over our bodies and inflict us.