The primary objective of the program is to educate professionals and provide them with the skills required to work in the pharmaceutical field, with particular emphasis on the engineering aspects of drug manufacturing, pharmaceutical production, pharmaceutical development, and pharmaceutical operations.

The pharmaceutical/medical technology industry is the largest manufacturing industry in New Jersey. New Jersey is home to the headquarters of more global pharmaceutical and medical technology companies than any other state in the country, or any single country throughout the world. NJIT's M.S. program in Pharmaceutical Engineering provides the intellectual climate and the necessary tools needed to prepare students for positions and career advancement within the industry, based on the rigorous technological requirements of this highly regulated work environment.

The program is designed to provide opportunities for specialization in such areas as pharmaceutical processing and manufacturing, validation and regulatory issues in the pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical facility design, pharmaceutical packaging technology, reaction engineering for pharmaceutical production, pharmaceutical separation processes, pharmacokinetics and drug delivery, molecular modeling for drug discovery, pharmaceutical synthesis, fluid mixing in the pharmaceutical industry, instrumental analysis, and industrial quality control.