Sandra Lenihan

Sandra Lenihan is a Lecturer in Chemical and Biopharmaceutical Engineering at Munster Technological University (MTU), where she has been faculty since 2009. She leads the Process innovation Engineering Research Group (PiERG) and serves as a Principal Investigator with the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology Centre (PMTC) hosted at University of Limerick. Dr. Lenihan has established herself as a key researcher in pharmaceutical process engineering with strong industry connections.

Her research focuses on developing predictive modeling for solid dosage pharmaceutical processes, particularly powder modeling for tablet processing and continuous manufacturing. She specializes in computational approaches using tools like Dynochem and finite element analysis to model unit operations including mixing, bioreactors, and filtration. Her work bridges academic research with industrial applications, resulting in numerous collaborations with pharmaceutical companies.

• Pharma Awards, Partnership Alliance WINNER (2018)
• Bridge Network Nomination for Invention of the Year (2018)
• Pharma Awards, 2nd Place: Education and Training Category (2020)
• Educational Awards, Best Student Experience Category Finalist (2020)
• Educational Awards, Career Impact Category Finalist (2020)
• Pharma Awards, Education and Training Category Finalist (2017)

Dr. Lenihan supervises Capstone Final Engineering Research and Design Projects and has been instrumental in developing industry-academic partnerships. She previously served as Placement Manager for the Chemical Engineering Programme (2012-2020) and has secured significant funding through Springboard programs and Enterprise Ireland projects. Her teaching includes Process Engineering, Biopharmaceutical Engineering, and Pharmaceutical Applications, where she integrates practical industry experience with academic theory.

She leads the PiERG research group, which provides solutions to the Pharma Engineering sector through expertise in predictive modeling and industrial pharma processing. Her current research includes an Enterprise Ireland IPP project in Tabletting and Coating (2022-2024) involving two postdocs working with Dr. Alexander Krok.