Corporate Retrospective 2007: LECO
Over seventy years ago, the Laboratory Equipment Corporation introduced the first rapid carbon determinator to the American iron and steel industry. Soon our carbon determinators, resistance furnaces, and sulfur determinators were seen in industrial laboratories across the country, along with the acronym trademark they carried. LECO became synonymous with accurate, dependable instrumentation for the determination of carbon, sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen in both ferrous and nonferrous industries.
Over seventy years ago, the Laboratory Equipment Corporation introduced the first rapid carbon determinator to the American iron and steel industry. Soon our carbon determinators, resistance furnaces, and sulfur determinators were seen in industrial laboratories across the country, along with the acronym trademark they carried. LECO became synonymous with accurate, dependable instrumentation for the determination of carbon, sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen in both ferrous and nonferrous industries.
As the world's steel industry grew in the 1970s, LECO continued to provide a complete line of steel-oriented analytical instrumentation, utilizing what were the latest revolutionary techniques. New technology was used to develop instruments that were easier to operate and required less operator attention, but still delivered precise results. By the early 1980s we were manufacturing instruments for automatic calorimetry, ash fusion determination, and simultaneous carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen determination. We had also became a major supplier of metallographic equipment and supplies.
Recognizing a need for scientists to move beyond the limitations of early analytical techniques, LECO developed its Separation Science product line in the late 1990s. In 1997, we introduced one of the first time-of-flight mass spectrometer systems available in the marketplace, followed quickly by instrumentation for the LC-TOFMS market. We then introduced an easy-to-use Windows-based software platform for all of LECO's Separation Science instruments. At the turn of the century, LECO combined the power of its TOFMS with the pioneering technology of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC), creating a new GCxGC-TOFMS.
In the future, new products will be developed that continue to meet a growing trend for the analytical community—obtaining even more precise analyses within faster result times. Our new and innovative instruments will incorporate the latest technology with features that offer convenience and increased laboratory productivity. After 70 successful years in analytical science, LECO continues to deliver the right results to our customers all around the world.
We would like to congratulate LCGC on their 25th anniversary.
Chris Warren
Sales Director for Technical Information and Products
LECO
Best of the Week: Food Analysis, Chemical Migration in Plastic Bottles, STEM Researcher of the Year
December 20th 2024Top articles published this week include the launch of our “From Lab to Table” content series, a Q&A interview about using liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC–HRMS) to assess chemical hazards in plastic bottles, and a piece recognizing Brett Paull for being named Tasmanian STEM Researcher of the Year.
Using LC-MS/MS to Measure Testosterone in Dried Blood Spots
December 19th 2024Testosterone measurements are typically performed using serum or plasma, but this presents several logistical challenges, especially for sample collection, storage, and transport. In a recently published article, Yehudah Gruenstein of the University of Miami explored key insights gained from dried blood spot assay validation for testosterone measurement.
Determination of Pharmaceuticals by Capillary HPLC-MS/MS (Dec 2024)
December 19th 2024This application note demonstrates the use of a compact portable capillary liquid chromatograph, the Axcend Focus LC, coupled to an Agilent Ultivo triple quadrupole mass spectrometer for quantitative analysis of pharmaceutical drugs in model aqueous samples.
