About Me

  • Full Name:Ashish Kumar
  • Phone:+32 (0)9 264 80 91
  • Email:ashish.kumar(at)ugent.be
  • Address:Ghent, Belgium
  • Date of Birth:June 22, 1983
  • Nationality:Indian

Hello There!

I am Ashish Kumar, an assistant professor for Pharmaceutical Engineering at Ghent University. I posses a keen intrest in model-based design of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing processes and equipment for innovation in drug substance and drug product development.

  • Professional Experience

  • Assistant Professor

    Ghent University, Belgium - 2020 - ongoing

    Leading Pharmaceutical engineering research group (PharmaEng) which focuses on the model-based design of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing equipment and processes for innovative drug products.

  • Senior Process Engineer

    Janssen Pharmaceutica, Belgium - 2017 - ongoing

    Worked on process development of continuos manufacturing process for solid dosage manufacturing at Janssen Pharmaceutica. Now working part-time since June 2020.

  • Postdoctoral Researcher

    Ghent University, Belgium - 2015 - 2017

    Worked on development of predictive knowledge platform on tabletability for solid dosage manufacturing in pharmaceutical industry.

  • Process Engineer

    Crucell Holland NV, The Netherlands - 2011 - 2012

  • Assistant Manager

    Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd., India - 2007 - 2009


  • Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy (Applied Biological Sciences)

    Ghent University, Belgium - 2010 - 2015
  • Professional Doctorate in Engineering (Bioprocess Technology)

    Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands - 2009 - 2011

    Thesis: Debottlenecking of manufacturing processes and utilities consumption in plasma products manufacturing.

  • Master in Technology (Biochemical Engineering)

    Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, India - 2005 - 2007

    Thesis: Process modelling of pretreatment of water hyacinth for pentose sugar extraction and utilization by Pichia Stiptis in ethanol fermentation.

  • Bachelor in Technology (Biotechnology)

    AAI-Deemed University, India - 2001 - 2005

    Thesis: Biodiesel production from crude oil of Jatropha Curcus and Pongamia Pinnata by transtesterification process.


  • Invited Speech

Feb 19th-20th, 2019

Control strategy for continuous direct compaction manufacturing

1st APV Continuous manufacturing conference

  • Antwerp, Belgium
June 20th-21st, 2017

Visualization of compaction behavior of pharmaceutical powders in solid-dosage manufacturing using finite element analysis

Compaction Simulation Forum, 2017

  • Gent, Belgium
June 4th-5th, 2014

Experimental and model-based investigation of twin screw granulation: towards more profound process knowledge

2nd Continuous oral solid dosage forms production seminar - GEA Pharma Systems

  • Antwerp, Belgium

Additional Courses

Kuopio workshop on continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing

Kuopio, Finland - August 20-22, 2014

NB Photonics Summer School

Ghent University, Belgium - June 17-21, 2014

7th International Granulation Workshop Course

University of Sheffield, UK - June 24 -25, 2013

Getting started with High Performance Computing

Ghent University, Belgium - May 29 - June 5, 2013

Computational Fluid Dynamics

Ghent University, Belgium - September 17-21, 2012

M.Sc. Thesis Supervised

Investigation of process and equipment parameters affecting granule size distribution, torque, residence time distribution and mixing in a twin-screw wet granulation

M. Alakarjula in Master of Pharmacy, University of Eastern Finland, Finland, 2015

Development of regime map for continuous high shear wet granulation using twin screw granulator

J. Dhondt in Master of Drug Development, Ghent University, 2014

Peer-reviewed Publications

2016

Model-based analysis of a twin-screw wet granulation system for continuous solid dosage manufacturing

A. Kumar, J. Vercruysse, S.F.T.C. Mortier, K. V. Gernaey, T. De Beer, I. Nopens

  • Computers & Chemical Engineering, 89 (2016) 62-70
2015

Linking granulation performance with residence time and granulation liquid distributions in twin-screw granulation: an experimental investigation

A. Kumar, M. Alakarjula, V. Vanhoorne, M. Toiviainen, M. Juuti, C. Vervaet, J. Ketolainen, K. V. Gernaey, I. Nopens, T. De Beer

  • European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 90 (2016) 25-37
2015

Development of a process map: a step towards a regime map for steady-state high shear wet twin screw granulation

A. Kumar, J. Dhondt, J. Vercruysse, F. De Leersnyder, V. Vanhoorne, C. Vervaet, J. P. Remon, K. V. Gernaey, T. De Beer, I. Nopens

  • Powder Technology, 300 (2016) 73-82.
2015

Evaluation of an in-line particle imaging tool for monitoring twin-screw granulation performance

A. Kumar, J. Dhondt, F. De Leersnyder, J. Vercruysse, V. Vanhoorne, C. Vervaet, J. P. Remon, K. V. Gernaey, T. De Beer, I. Nopens

  • Powder Technology 285 (2015) 80-87
2015

Conceptual framework for model-based analysis of residence time distribution in twin-screw granulation

A. Kumar, J. Vercruysse, V. Vanhoorne, M. Toiviainen, P.-E. Panouillot, M. Juuti, C. Vervaet, J. P. Remon, K. V. Gernaey, T. De Beer, I. Nopens

  • European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 71 (2015) 25-34
2014

Experimental investigation of granule size and shape dynamics in twin-screw granulation

A. Kumar, J. Vercruysse, G. Bellandi, K. V. Gernaey, C. Vervaet, J. P. Remon, T. De Beer, I. Nopens

  • International Journal of Pharmaceutics 475 (1) (2014) 485-495
2014

Mixing and transport during pharmaceutical twin-screw wet granulation: Experimental analysis via chemical imaging

A. Kumar, J. Vercruysse, M. Toiviainen, P.-E. Panouillot, M. Juuti, V. Vanhoorne, C. Vervaet, J. P. Remon, K. V. Gernaey, T. De Beer, I. Nopens

  • European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics 87 (2) (2014) 279-289
2015

Model-based analysis of high shear wet granulation from batch to continuous processes in pharmaceutical production:a critical review

A. Kumar, K. V. Gernaey, T. De Beer, I. Nopens

  • European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics 85 (3) (2013) 814-832
2015

Model-based characterisation of twin-screw granulation system for continuous solid dosage manufacturing

A. Kumar, K. V. Gernaey, T. De Beer, I. Nopens

  • Computer Aided Chemical Engineering 37 (2015) 2165-2170
2011

Biodiesel production from crude oil of Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata by transesterification process

M. H. Siddiqui, A. Kumar, A. Farooqui, K. K. Kesari

  • International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology 4 (2) (2011) 192-206

Awards

2019

The Vice Presidents’ Research Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement

Janssen Pharmaceutica

2018

The Vice Presidents’ Research Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement

Janssen Pharmaceutica

2015

The GSK Prize for the Best Pharmaceutically Relevant Poster

7th International Granulation Workshop

2013

The GSK Prize for the Best Pharmaceutically Relevant Poster

6th International Granulation Workshop

2009

Stellar Performer Award for the best performance of the Biologics unit

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd.

Presentations

Oral Presentations