Studienarbeiten

2 Master Thesis Projects - Chemical Engineering (Verfahrenstechnik) or Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering (CPE)

Trocknung und Lagerung und von Monomeren in der Polymerproduktion

Die Qualität von Monomerpartikel ist von entscheidender Wichtigkeit für die finalen Eigenschaften vieler Polymerprodukte (z.B. Acrylglas, Lacke, etc.). Bei der Herstellung von Monomerpartikeln ist der Trocknungsschritt von hoher Wichtigkeit für mögliche Veränderungen der Partikel während der Lagerung, die in weiterer Folge das Produkt beeinflussen.

In Zusammenarbeit mit unserem Partner (einem großen Hersteller dieser Monomere) vergeben wir zwei Masterarbeiten für Verfahrenstechnik- bzw. CPE-Studierende. Ziel dieser Arbeiten ist eine tiefgreifendere Analyse der chemischen und physikalischen Veränderungen während der Trocknung bzw. der Lagerung eines granularen Monomers. Diese Analyse erfolgt großteils auf Basis von experimentellen Arbeiten, z.B. Partikelgrößenanalyse, MS, HPLC, oder einem neu zu entwickelnden Trocknungsexperiment. Weiters ist für den Teil „Trocknung“ die Weiterentwicklung eines Berechnungsprogrammes, sowie eine Auslegung durchzuführen. Abbildung: Ein typisches Produkt unseres Projektpartners (Bildquelle: amazon.de)

Wir bieten:

höchste industrielle und wissenschaftliche Relevanz
modernste Ausrüstung am Institut
Unterstützung durch das Projektteam am IPPT (Analyse, Literatur, Aufbau eines Trocknungsexperimentes, Software)
Schreibtisch und Büroräume
Vergütung (Anstellung bei unserem Partner, oder am Institut)

Kontakt

Stefan Radl, radlnoSpam@tugraz.at, 0680 / 12 22 168

Heidrun Gruber-Wölfler, woelflernoSpam@tugraz.at, 0316 / 873 30406.

Möglicher Startzeitpunkt: 1. Jänner 2022

Paid Master’s Thesis – Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Transport in Polymers

Background
Polymers are used in the electrical industry to insulate devices. Especially in corrosive atmospheres the investigation of the degradation of these polymers and the protected devices is of vital importance to increase their longevity. One main influence is the diffusion of corrosive substances through the protective layer of a device. In recent years as computational power became cheaper, using molecular dynamics simulations to quantify transport properties of polymers became more commonly used.

In this thesis molecular dynamics (MD) simulations should be used to quantify the transport processes of different penetrator molecules in polymers. Investigations regarding the polymer’s chain-length, the degree of cross-linking, as well as the charge of the penetrator molecules under different environmental conditions should be conducted.

Tasks

Running and analyzing molecular dynamics simulations of polymers
Investigation of physical properties of polymers

Requirements

Solid background in chemical engineering
Knowledge of Matlab or Python
Enthusiasm to work with theories, software, and computer algorithms
Interest and enthusiasm for performing simulation on supercomputers

Work on the thesis is paid (6 months), and we offer office space, computers, simulation software and expertise, as well as integration to a highly-relevant research project

Contact
Dr. Stefan Radl (radlnoSpam@tugraz.at; 0680 12 22 168)
Dipl.-Ing. Philipp Mayr, BSc. (philipp.mayrnoSpam@tugraz.at)

Paid Master Thesis or Student Job - Developing a Novel Drug Delivery System for Special Patients

Background

The Institute of Process and Particle Engineering is a world leader in the development of pharmaceutical products and processes.

In this context, we are offering a paid master thesis where the student is employed at an external company.

The goal of the master thesis is to create the basis for product development, focusing on a novel drug delivery system where the medicine is contained in a flavored gel, either as solution, emulsion or suspension. Drug delivery occurs via breaking a seal of a snap-package and sucking out the flavored gel. Target patient populations includes:

Geriatric patients (frail & old patients)
Pediatric patients (kids)
Emergency applications

Tasks

Literature study on competitor products and patent situation
List of the 20-30 most important medicines for the three target populations and corresponding biopharmaceutical classification
Research on formulation strategies (solutions, emulsions, suspension) with sufficient stability
Selection of 3 model APIs (different categories) and formulation of the gels
Stability testing under stress conditions

Requirements

Background in pharmaceutical sciences, pharmaceutical engineering or medicines
Student in pharmacy, pharmaceutical engineering, chemical engineering or related

What we offer:

Integration in an internationally leading team
Opportunity to be part of a commercialization project
Paid thesis

Start: Spring 2021

Contact: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Johannes Khinast, khinastnoSpam@tugraz.at

Paid Master Thesis or student job: Comparing Bioreactors with different scales and/or geometries

Background

The Institute of Process and Particle Engineering is a world leader in the development of simulation tools for industrial-scale bioprocessing units, funded by the Spin-Off Fellowship Program of the FFG. For example, our current code can model processes in large-scale bioreactors, up to 200m³ .
We are therefore offering a student job with the possibility to do a master thesis with the goal of creating a comparison algorithm for bioreactors. The objective is to find the influencing factors that determine the productivity difference between reactors. This should be done by comparing reactors of different scales and for reactors at the same scale but different geometry and should aid scale up or process transfer processes in the industry.

Tasks

Literature study on available influencing factors or comparison concepts for the production in bioreactors using cells or microorganisms
Propose an algorithm for the comparison of reactors
Do scale ups or process transfer virtually

Requirements

Background in biotechnology, biochemistry, molecular microbiology or similar
Being familiar with industrial production in bioreactors

What we offer:

Integration in an internationally leading team
Opportunity to be part of a commercialization project
Paid thesis

Start: Fall 2020

Contact
Dr. Christian Witz
0316 873 30416
christian.witznoSpam@tugraz.at

Continuous Cooling Crystallization

Background

For this construction thesis we are looking for a student to design a water bath made of stainless steel for continuous cooling crystallization in a tubular reactor (plug flow crystallizer).

Using such a tubular crystallizer the continuous cooling crystallization process should be carried out in two water baths of different temperature. Each water bath has separate glass inserts which enable the visual observation of the crystallization process within the tubes via a high speed camera. To achieve high resolution images a backlight source e.g. a LED panel in addition to the camera is necessary. Due to the reflection of the water inside the bath the distance between the backlight and the camera should be as short as possible. To keep the tube cycles uniformly immersed and to guide them special tube mountings are also required.

Tasks Waterbaths Setup

To design a water bath of stainless steel with glass inserts for the image-based observation of a continuous cooling crystallization within a transparent tubular crystallizer.
To make a selection of necessary materials and equipment and process the orders
Image-based monitoring and observation of crystal segments via high speed camera and backlight
Doing some final experiments to demonstrate the applicability of the two water baths for visual investigations.

Requirements

Background in chemical / pharmaceutical engineering or chemistry
Basic experience in working with CAD drawing desirable
Basic experience in lab work

What we offer

Integration in an internationally leading team

Contact

Dipl.-Ing. Alexander Meister, BSc
Inffeldgasse 13 / III, 8010 Graz
alexander.meisternoSpam@tugraz.at