Process Control Expert Advancing Pharmaceutical Manufacturing through Model-Based Approaches
Dr. Jakob Rehrl, a Dipl.-Ing. Dr. at the Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering (RCPE), is a leading expert in process control and optimization for pharmaceutical manufacturing. With a background in modeling and control of complex HVAC systems, Rehrl transitioned to the pharmaceutical industry in 2014, where he now leads the control strategy group at RCPE. His work focuses on developing and implementing advanced control strategies, particularly model predictive control (MPC), for continuous pharmaceutical processes such as fluid bed granulation, drying, hot melt extrusion, and tableting. Rehrl's research contributions include end-point prediction methods for granule moisture, improving pellet quality through PID control and LOLIMOT-based MPC, and optimizing continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing via model-predictive control. His expertise spans from theoretical modeling and simulation to practical implementation of control systems in real-world manufacturing environments, making him a key figure in advancing the efficiency and quality of pharmaceutical production processes.