37416 - Products and Productions in the Chemical/ Biotechnological Industries

Learning outcomes

The student will acquire skills related to the methods and problems both of the chemical and biotechnological industries ( main focus on products and processes). Particularly, the student will learn about the development of the main chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies in the world, in terms of their sales output, productions and markets.

Course contents

The Chemical Industry: definitions, main productions and products, historical outlook. World top chemical and pharmaceutical corporations ranked by sales and earnings: corporate trends through years. The italian situation with respect to chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
Base feedstocks for the chemical industry : coal, oil, natural gas, biomasses, minerals. The traditional organisation of the chemical industry through segments.  Vertical and horizontal integration; recent examples of restructuring this concept. Budget components in some chemical operations as an example of a concept. Corporate budgets : key to their interpretation for both italian and foreign companies ( chemistry, pharma, biotech -focused) .
Technology for industrial chemical processes : catalysts and catalysis, process choice, plant design and scale-up.
New targets of environmental sustainability : green chemistry, waste management, safety and protection technologies.
Biotech industry : the conditions that have determined the beginning of a new industrial sector. The main biotech corporations in the world : their beginning, development, their principal production and products; their inter-relations with the traditional pharmaceutical and chemical enterprises: emerging of a new industrial branch as "Life Sciences". Patents: their history, characteristics, importance both in general and in the Biotech segments; TradeMarks.

Readings/Bibliography

Heaton , Alan: An Introduction to Industrial Chemistry. Blackie- Academic 3° ed, London 1996
Ratledge, Colin; Kristiansen, Bjorn : Basic Biotechnology, 2° ed,  Cambridge University Press, 2004, chapters 12, 11, 22, 24.
For actual data and methods concerning the analisys of Corporate Budgets see : Mediobanca, Studi e  Ricerche, rapporti periodici su Analisi Bilanci Società Italiane; foreign economical Magazines ( Fortune, Forbes, ) . For up-to date informations concerning the industrial sector Life Sciences- Pharma-Biotech see: Chemical & Engineering News ( Magazine of the American Chemical Society).

Teaching methods

Traditional classroom lessons with the aid of transparencies/ projections. Photocopies of all the material displayed will be made available to the students.

Assessment methods

In order to achieve the credits, the student is incouraged to choice a topic related to the contents of the course  ( with the agreement of the docent) and prepare autonomously a brief presentation of the subject. A discussion will follow the presentation , where some concepts of the course could be recalled and assessed. The final result will take into account both the  presentation and the performance. The final examination can be indicated as an oral exam, which follows the preparation of a report  ( topic chosen by the student)

Teaching tools

Photocopies given by the docent.
Textbooks and scientific journals available in the libraries of both the ex Faculty of Industrial Chemistry ( now Department of Industrial Chemistry) and the School of  Sciences.
INTERNET- available informations.

Office hours

See the website of Paolo Zani