HPLC 2024: A Preview of the Awards Program

The 2024 HPLC conference will be held from July 20–25 in Denver, Colorado. During the event, awards will be presented to scientists who have made significant contributions to analytical chemistry and separation science. Below, the editors of LCGC International provide a preview of the 2024 awards program and what attendees can expect.

Denver, Colorado, USA Drone Aerial Skyline | Image Credit: © Kevin Ruck - stock.adobe.com

Uwe D. Neue Award in Separation Science

This award was created to honor Uwe D. Neue, a late scientist and Waters Corporate Fellow. Each year, the award is used to honor a distinguished industrial scientist, 15–20 years or more after receiving their degree, who has made a significant contribution to the field of separation science. In addition, the awardee is usually an industrial scientist, one who was instrumental in the embodiment of technology in commercial products. This year, Miroslav Janco of Dow Chemical will be honored with the award. Working as a principal scientist at Dow Corporation, Janco has made great contributions to the advance of methods for polymer analysis, especially the separation of polymers by chromatography. He is a recipient of US presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (2013) and R&D Magazine’s 2013 R&D 100 Award, among others. Further, he has authored/co-authored over 30 publications and patents. As part of his awards ceremony, Janco will present a lecture on how using advanced polymer chromatography, a newly developed technology, can speed up size-based separations of synthetic (co)polymers significantly, resulting in very short analysis times, and provides improved resolution and precision.

Csaba Horváth Young Scientist Award

This award honors Csaba Horváth for his contributions to HPLC, including his interest in fostering the careers of young people in separation science and engineering. The award includes an invitation to speak at the HPLC 2025 Symposium, a grant to support travel to that meeting, and a trophy engraved with the winner’s name. This year’s award goes to Simona Felletti of the University of Ferrara. Simona Felletti received a PhD in chemical sciences in 2020 from the University of Ferrara (Italy), where she is currently employed as tenure track researcher (RTT). During her PhD and post-doc, she spent research periods at ETH Zurich (Switzerland), at the University of Pécs (Hungary) and at KNAUER (Berlin, Germany). She is also the recipient of the 2021 Ervin sz. Kováts Award for Young Scientists. Her research is mainly focused on the investigation of fundamentals of the separation process (retention mechanisms, mass transfer and adsorption phenomena) applied to both linear chromatography (LC and SFC) and nonlinear chromatography (single column and multi-column continuous purification processes). During her presentation, Felletti will discuss the importance of understanding specific phenomena surrounding unusual van Deemter curves. The award will be presented on Thursday, July 25, during the HPLC closing ceremony.

Best Poster Awards

During HPLC 2024, the HPLC symposium series invites academic, institutional, and industrial researchers to share and discuss the results of their work with delegates. The awards will consist of a certificate and a monetary gift. The top ten winners will be awarded $500 each. Most importantly, the HPLC Symposium Series encourages young scientists to present their work as a starter in their international scientific career.

Chromatography Society Jubilee Medal

The Jubilee Medal, created in 1982 to mark the 25th anniversary of The Chromatographic Society, is meant to recognize up-and-coming separation scientists who have either made major use of separation science in their own field or have made important contributions to a particular area of separation science. This year, three scientists have been awarded the Medal: Kevin Schug of the University of Texas, Arlington, Lucie Nováková of Charles University, and John Langley of the University of Southampton.

Schug joined the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in 2005, becoming a professor in 2015. His research focusses primarily on the fundamentals of gas and liquid phase separations as well as detector technology for trace analysis, such as, VUV (vacuum ultraviolet) in GC and the underlying mechanisms of soft ionization in MS. His research is primarily applied to the investigation of water treatment analysis and natural products, but also has interests in sustainable and environmental trace analyses. Schug has published over 222 papers (> 5800 citations) and has an h-index of 40.

Nováková joined the Charles University in Prague in 2011, becoming a full professor in 2019. Her research is primarily oriented towards fast LC and SFC techniques, and their coupling to mass spectrometry. Her research has a particular focus on pharmaceutical analysis, plant analysis and bioanalytical methods and therefore Professor Nováková’s research also focuses on developing and miniaturizing sample preparation approaches and increasing sample throughput.

Langley joined the University of Southampton in 1988 where he now leads the characterization and analytics section in the Department of Chemistry. His research focuses mainly on separation and detection of polymeric material, organometallics, and various (bio)pharmaceuticals utilizing a multitude of separation techniques interfaced with MS and works closely with many companies within the pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries.

Chinese American Chromatography Association (CACA) Awards

At HPLC 2024, CACA invites applications for awards to recognize student research excellence in separation science. These awards are open to students in separation science attending HPLC 2024. The top candidate will receive the Dr. Andrew Alpert Memorial Award ($1000 and customized plaque) sponsored by PolyLC. Travel Grants (each $500) will be presented to the two runners-up. The awards will be presented at CACA’s networking dinner on Monday, July 22, 2024.

References

(1) Uwe D. Neue Award in Separation Science. Conference Catalysts, LLC 2024. https://hplc2024-symposium.org/awards/neue-award (accessed 2024-7-15)

(2) The HPLC 2023 Csaba Horváth Young Scientist Award Winner. Conference Catalysts, LLC 2024. https://hplc2024-symposium.org/awards/csaba-horvath-young-scientist-award (accessed 2024-7-15)

(3) Best Poster Awards. Conference Catalysts, LLC 2024. https://hplc2024-symposium.org/awards/best-poster-award (accessed 2024-7-15)

(4) Chromatography Society Jubilee Medal. Conference Catalysts, LLC 2024. https://hplc2024-symposium.org/awards/chromatography-society-jubilee-medal (accessed 2024-7-15)

(5) Jubilee and Martin Medal 2024 Winners. ChromSoc 2024. https://chromsoc.com/jubilee-and-martin-medal-2024-winners/ (accessed 2024-7-15)

(6) CACA Awards. Conference Catalysts, LLC 2024. https://hplc2024-symposium.org/awards/caca-awards (accessed 2024-7-15)