Welcome to Ken's personal webpage!
Thank you for visiting my personal webpage.
I am an incoming Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. My research focuses on Process Systems Engineering (PSE).
Who is Kensaku (Ken)?
I earned my Ph.D. in Chemical System Engineering from the University of Tokyo. I then conducted postdoctoral research at Ghent University and am currently a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University.
Research
Process Systems Engineering × Pharmaceutical Science × Powder Engineering
I am working on the process development of solid drug products, which are major dosage forms such as tablets and capsules.
I aim to design appropriate manufacturing processes for solid drug products, based on "pharmaceutical science" such as material properties and quality management, using skills in "powder engineering" such as heterogeneity, and from the perspective of "process systems engineering" such as process synthesis and assessment.
The following are examples of my research topics:
- Comparison between batch and continuous manufacturing in tablet manufacturing
- Process synthesis in solid drug product manufacturing
- Development of economic assessment tools in solid drug product manufacturing processes
- Experimental investigation of a tablet manufacturing process including wet granulation
Currently, I mainly focus on process model development using population balance models (PBMs).
For more details, please check my profile and publication pages.
Related web pages
- CryPTSys (Group which I am currently in)
- Pharmaceutical Engineering (Group 1 which I belonged to from 2022 to 2024)
- BIOMATH (Group 2 which I belonged to from 2021 to 2024)
- Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Process Analytical Technology (Group 3 which I belonged to from 2021 to 2024)
- Sugiyama Lab (Lab which I belonged to from 2015 to 2021)
Other activities
Support decision-making and SMEs in the COVID-19 pandemic
This project was conducted in FY2020. Details are available from here.
Career support for PhD students
I would like to support careers for current and prospective PhD students.
So far, I have made a presentation in the workshop organized by UTokyo Lighthouse.
Where can you see me or my research?
You can find my recent research progress and presentations at the events listed below. (Some of the listed presentations are given by my colleagues.)
March 17-19, 2026, Yoshida Campus, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- N205 "[The SCEJ Award for Outstanding Young Researcher] Development of novel mathematical models for solid drug product manufacturing and application to process design"
（Oral）Kensaku Matsunami
November 8-12, 2026, Minneapolis Convention Center, Hilton Minneapolis, Hyatt Regency Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN, United States
- Session Co-chair: 10A: Product and Materials Design
Want to work with me?
I welcome inquiries from enthusiastic Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers interested in my research.
If you are interested in exploring potential research directions together, please do not hesitate to reach out (kmatsun[at]purdue.edu). I am always happy to connect and have an informal discussion.
