Tecnológico de Monterrey students interested in the program, please address any questions about the application process to Crockett Sewell, sewellc@purdue.edu.
Faculty Name: Teresa Carvajal
E-Mail: tcarvaja@purdue.edu
Project Term: Fall 2026 or Fall 2026/Spring 2027 (Full Academic Year Preferred)
Project Description:
This research project tackles a persistent challenge in pharmaceutical and food powder processing: undesirable agglomeration. From poor flow to clumping during storage or processing, agglomeration hinders consistent powder mixing, dispersion, and reconstitution of powders. The project focuses on how surface chemistry, water interactions, and formulation strategies influence powder behavior: from sticky to free-flowing.
Understanding these mechanisms is essential for advancing nutritional powders, and functional food ingredients. The project's insights can lead to better handling, more stable formulations, and optimized performance in real-world applications.
Requirements:
It is desirable if the student has a chemistry, physical-chemistry, programming and data analytics skills.
This project offers hands-on training in: advanced surface science techniques, powder processing and characterization, experimental design and statistical interpretation, critical thinking in solving real formulation problems.
Students will work in a collaborative, interdisciplinary lab at the intersection of materials science, chemical engineering, and applied pharmaceutics or food science. They'll contribute to literature reviews, method development, data interpretation, and dissemination through posters or manuscripts.