New course aims to beat skills shortage

A new MSc course that aims to address the shortage of high-calibre technical staff within the pharmaceutical and medical device engineering sectors has been launched by Cranfield University.

This highly vocational course in 'Integrated Pharmaceutical & Medical Engineering' has been developed to provide key staff who are aware of the growing global business challenges faced by these industry sectors and who can contribute in the discovery, creation and manufacture of cost-efficient, high-volume 'disposable' products.

Leading pharmaceutical and medical device products manufacturer 3M Health Care has played a key role in the development of the MSc curriculum and will provide and support individual research projects for the 2006/07 academic year. The curriculum comprises 10 one-week assessed modules, a group project and an individual project, and has been developed in close collaboration with a number of major global manufacturers.

Directed through its own Course Advisory Group to ensure content is aligned to industry need, modules include Applied Automation and Design, Enabling Technologies - used in the manufacture of small-scale physical devices and powder-based products - and Manufacturing Assessment and Improvement. The course also provides an overview of the complex regulatory framework within which the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries must operate, together with an appreciation of the science and technologies that are utilised in the pursuit of manufacturing solutions.

'The pharmaceutical industry accounts for a quarter of the entire research expenditure by the UK manufacturing sector and, therefore, can offer a diverse range of global career opportunities,' said 3M Health Care European operations manager Dave Walls. '3M has been delighted to work with Cranfield University in developing a course so closely aligned with our industry's technical resource requirements.'

Available on a full-time or part-time study basis, the MSc in Integrated Pharmaceutical and Medical Engineering will ideally suit engineering, physics and science graduates keen to pursue careers within the pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing sectors, or graduates currently working in industry who wish to extend their qualifications.