In this lab, students will learn about the process of drug delivery in the body. By applying fundamentals of transport via diffusion across membranes and pharmaceutical drug encapsulation, students will design a small-scale staged release drug delivery system. Students will assess how effectively they can utilize various materials to encase differently colored tablets in water to stage their release of color in an order predetermined by the student.
Students will:
- Analyze real-world problems and use critical thinking skills in order to solve them
- Explore developments in drug delivery systems
- Design and build a small-scale dual delayed drug release delivery system using material provided
- Explain the engineering process as it pertains to their design and reflect on opportunities to improve it
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Lab time commitment
75-100 minutes (including 30-minute intro video)
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Lab materials
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Live Q&A session and wrap up with
College Students & Professional Engineers
Classroom Tools & Resources
Get access to all of the presentation materials, workbooks and resources to run the Pharmaceuticals lab in your classroom.
Lab Intro Videos
Get our engineer’s introduction to the lab topic and learn more about the lab activity.
If you've completed the lab intro, you can find additional optional lab extensions beginning at timecode 27:01.
Teacher Guide
Pre-work, instructions and troubleshooting advice.
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Student Workbook
Questions and assessments from the lab presentation.
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Abbreviated Student Worksheet
A worksheet containing major student lab activities.
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Engineer’s Presentation
Full lab presentation presented by our engineers.
ViewMeet the lab intro host
Erik O. Einset
Director, Engineering Tomorrow
Erik has over 30 years of experience in various engineering and leadership roles, including 17 years at GE in R&D, product development, process improvement, technical sales, and business management. After GE, he spent 16 years as a member of the operations team at Global Infrastructure Partners, working on business improvement in a variety of infrastructure businesses in the energy and transportation sectors. He has been a director at Engineering Tomorrow since 2014. Erik is the author of 6 patents and numerous technical publications, and holds Chemical Engineering degrees from Cornell University (BS) and the University of Minnesota (PhD).
Erik has over 30 years of experience in various engineering and leadership roles, including 17 years at GE in R&D, product development, process improvement, technical sales, and business management. After GE, he spent 16 years as a member of the operations team at Global Infrastructure Partners, working on business improvement in a variety of infrastructure businesses in the energy and transportation sectors. He has been a director at Engineering Tomorrow since 2014. Erik is the author of 6 patents and numerous technical publications, and holds Chemical Engineering degrees from Cornell University (BS) and the University of Minnesota (PhD).
Lab Day Keynote
Every Engineering Tomorrow Lab Day event ends with an inspiring keynote from an engineering expert. Watch this one from the latest Pharmaceuticals Lab Day.
Liangliang Hao
Assistant Professor
Boston University
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