The LCGC Blog: Attend the Premier Conferences for Capillary and Comprehensive Separations in 2019

From May 12 – 17, 2019 at the Hilton Ft. Worth in Ft. Texas, I will be co-chairing (together with my colleague Prof. Dan Armstrong) the 43^rd International Symposium on Capillary Chromatography (ISCC) and the 16^th GCxGC Symposium. I am writing to tell you this not only because organizing a meeting is quite an undertaking, but also because I am really excited about how this event is shaping up. This is the U.S. version of the famous Riva del Garda conferences held in even years in Italy. As we return back to Texas for 2019, we have a lot of exciting things in store to share with you. Conference registration and abstract submission open December 7, 2018 at www.isccgcxgc.com.

What are the makings of a stellar conference? I have been to my fair share, and there are a few things I really enjoy, and think are important to an enjoyable experience. From the organizational side, I know there are a few key components to putting together a successful meeting.

An enjoyable and time-worthy experience for participants is built upon a balanced and quality program. There needs to be some quality headliners. ISCC and GCxGC 2019 will feature plenary lectures by Fred Regnier (Purdue University), Jonathan Sweedler (University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign), and Chris Reddy (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute). That is a pretty exciting line-up. Additionally, while I cannot yet share the news, the winner of this year’s Marcel Golay Award (generously sponsored by Perkin Elmer) is an outstanding choice; someone whom will round out this list of headline speakers very nicely. Stay tuned! Other invited speakers will be leading scientists from around the world and will provide insight on the state-of-the-art of the vast array of fields advanced and supported by separation science. The scientific program will be rounded out by high quality contributed talks and a vibrant poster session. Numerous poster prizes have been gathered and will be given to recognize the best of the best. You should be a part of these conferences, if you want the right people to know about your work!

We have four top-notch short courses available to registered attendees. As is tradition, a short course on GCxGC will be delivered by prominent members of the GCxGC community. Further, a short course on basic HPLC will be delivered by Lee Polite (Axion Labs), and a course on sample preparation for capillary chromatography will be given by Nick Snow (Seton Hall University). We will also offer a new short course on capillary HPLC, an exciting and growing sub-discipline, as more and more manufacturers begin to offer commercial solutions in this area. James Grinias (Rowan University) and Justin Godinho (Advanced Materials Technology) will be teaching participants about the state-of-the-art in capillary HPLC. This line-up of short courses provides exceptional opportunities for professional development by students and industry practitioners alike.

From the organizational stand-point – vendors, exhibitors, and sponsors, you are the most important aspect of a successful meeting.  We thank those of you who have already committed your support, but there is always room for more. This is the premier venue for presentation of the latest advances in pressure and electrically-driven microscale separations, including associated sample preparation and detection techniques. A diverse range of participants from academia, industry, and government can be expected to attend the conference to view your newest offerings. We will have a series of breakfast and lunch seminars to feature new vendor technologies and solutions. If you are a participant, there will be no need to spend a lot of money on food; if you join us in Ft. Worth, we’ll have you covered for almost every meal.

To provide some variety, the conferences will feature a series of panel discussions, where leading industry and academic experts can provide guidance and insight in critical areas of interest, such as gas chromatography column selection and the state-of-the-art in micro-liquid chromatography, among others. These will be a great venue to get those nagging questions answered about what are best practices and emerging trends.

No conference would be complete without a great social program and opportunities for networking. We will have ample coffee breaks, poster sessions, and discussion meetings for rubbing elbows, greeting friends, and making new contacts. ISCC & GCxGC is well known to be the place where many of the major thought leaders in separation science come together to meet; and the event, projected to be around 400 participants, is the perfect size to corner someone you want to meet. Not too big and not too small. We will also provide ample opportunities in the evenings to experience the culture of Ft. Worth and spend more quality time with conference participants. We have arranged an amazing conference banquet at the famous Ft. Worth Tex-Mex restaurant, Joe T. Garcia’s, and priced tickets to be affordable and inclusive of all who attend the conference. Open bar and world class local cuisine in a magical garden setting – enough said! We will also continue the tradition of a sponsored happy hour one night. If you have never been to Ft. Worth (or even if you have), it is a magical and friendly place, and the Hilton Ft. Worth is smack-dab in the middle of all of it. It is a great place to bring the family. The month of May is a fantastic month to visit north Texas, and getting there couldn’t be easier, since we are so close to the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) airport, which has world-wide direct flights available.

At this point, we are well on our way to organizing a highly informative, engaging, and enjoyable meeting.  But, we also need your participation. Visit our website for more details, but further, prepare an abstract and plan to present your recent groundbreaking research. You will find these meetings to be inviting and engaging, and no doubt the connections you make will serve you well into the future. Organizing a meeting of any size is a lot of work, but I cannot help but convey my excitement for what looks to be one of the best conferences I have ever attended. Maybe I am biased, but we are working hard to ensure that statement is true. Please feel free to contact info@isccgcxgc.com and you will find attentive responses to your queries and any efforts possible to help get you to Ft. Worth in May!

Kevin A. Schug is a Full Professor and Shimadzu Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at The University of Texas (UT) at Arlington. He joined the faculty at UT Arlington in 2005 after completing a Ph.D. in Chemistry at Virginia Tech under the direction of Prof. Harold M. McNair and a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Vienna under Prof. Wolfgang Lindner. Research in the Schug group spans fundamental and applied areas of separation science and mass spectrometry. Schug was named the LCGC Emerging Leader in Chromatography in 2009 and the 2012 American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Young Investigator in Separation Science. He is a fellow of both the U.T. Arlington and U.T. System-Wide Academies of Distinguished Teachers.