Background
Mixing and blending are fundamental unit operations in pharmaceutical manufacturing, with a direct impact on product quality, uniformity, and stability. Achieving homogeneous systems — whether in powders, suspensions, or emulsions — remains a significant technical challenge, particularly for complex, cohesive, or shear-sensitive materials.
Resonant Acoustic Mixing (RAM) is an emerging technology that uses low-frequency acoustic energy to induce bulk motion within materials. Unlike conventional mixing approaches, RAM enables uniform energy distribution throughout the sample without impellers or high local shear, making it particularly suitable for a wide range of systems, including fragile structures, dense suspensions, and cohesive powders.
UCB is developing its expertise in this area, with the objective of establishing RAM as a versatile laboratory platform for formulation and process characterisation.
Project overview
The selected student(s) will work on the application of RAM to a specific class of materials. The final project scope will be tailored to the student’s background and interests, with a focus on one primary application area.
Possible areas of work include:
- Powder systems: blend uniformity, deagglomeration, and flow behavior
- Advanced formulations: exploratory work on complex or specialised systems, for gene therapy applications
The work will involve:
- Designing and performing mixing experiments using RAM
- Investigating the effect of process parameters (e.g., acceleration, mixing time, formulation variables)
- Characterising materials using appropriate techniques, such as:
- SEM-EDX (morphology and elemental composition)
- Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) (particle or droplet size distribution)
- Zeta potential (surface charge of droplets)
- Spectroscopy (structural or compositional insights)
- Analysing and interpreting results to understand process–structure relationships
Scientific focus
Depending on the selected project direction, the student may explore:
- Mechanisms of acoustic energy transfer and material motion under resonant conditions
- Control of particle or droplet size distributions
- Deagglomeration and dispersion efficiency
- The influence of mixing conditions on material structure, uniformity, and stability
Practical aspects
- The position is laboratory-based and on-site
- Full training will be provided on RAM operation and characterisation techniques
- The student will contribute to ongoing research while developing independent experimental work
Candidate profile
We welcome students from diverse backgrounds, including chemical engineering, materials science, pharmaceutical sciences, or related disciplines.
Ideal candidates will have:
- A good command of English (French is an advantage)
- A basic understanding of physicochemical principles
- Interest in experimental work and material/process characterisation
- Ability to critically analyse and interpret data