Our group is dedicated to analyzing samples on an “as-is” basis without dissolving or affecting the sample. To achieve this goal we work with near infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy and collaborate with a wide scientific community. Most of our collaborations are with researchers from the Engineering Research Center for Structured Organic Particulate Systems (ERC-SOPS, http://ercforsops.org/), but our community has no bounds and extends to Catalunya, Copenhagen, Valencia, and Cartagena, and we are always ready to expand.
I am very happy to be in this Department, and very grateful to those professors that gave me the opportunity. Times may be tough, but when the “going gets tough, the tough get going”; there are too many exciting contributions for us to do, and no time for complaining. We still have wonderful students, true rough diamonds for us to polish and make shine. We foresee many good opportunities, and are actually looking for new undergraduate and graduate students to join our group.
I had the pleasure of serving as Graduate Coordinator from January 2003 – July 2011. During that time our Ph.D. program was approved, and grew to 62 students.
Our group is called the Analytical & Pharmaceutical Group since students are equally encouraged to learn about analytical chemistry and pharmaceutics, and present in both pharmaceutical and chemical meetings. The research activities are important as a means to develop human resources in support of Puerto Rico’s pharmaceutical industry, and at the same time contribute to the development of new methods to analyze intact pharmaceutical materials. The group’s projects include innovative research efforts, and also a number of activities to encourage the transfer of knowledge and methods to pharmaceutical manufacturing sites.
The mission of the Analytical & Pharmaceutical group is: “Facilitate the development and implementation of Quality by Design manufacturing by supplying scientists, Near Infrared and Raman Spectroscopic methods to the pharmaceutical industry”.
