LCGC Pittcon Session Highlights Christopher Pohl, Katelynn Perrault Uptmor, and More Top Experts

Christopher Pohl and Katelynn Perrault Uptmor will take the stage during an awards symposium at Pittcon. They will be joined with invited speakers Dwight Stoll, John Riviello, and M. Farooq Wahab.

Each year, LCGC International presents two awards at Pittcon to the winner of the Lifetime Achievement in Chromatography Award and the Emerging Leader in Chromatography Award. This year, Christopher Pohl is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award and Katelynn Perrault Uptmor is the recipient of the Emerging Leader award. The award presentation, which will honor Pohl and Perrault Uptmor, will take place on Tuesday March 4^th from 8:30–11:40 am.

Pohl has had a 50-year career advancing ion chromatography, including polymeric stationary phases, separation methods, and electrochemical detection (1). Perrault Uptmor is well known for her work in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC), applying it to odor analysis in life sciences and forensic chemistry (1). Her research also advances nontargeted analysis, sustainable sampling, and statistical classification of complex mixtures (1).

This session will feature five talks. First, from 8:40 to 9:20 am, Pohl will deliver a talk, “From the Pilot Plant to the Instrumentation R&D Lab, A 50 Year Adventure” (2). Pohl will discuss his unconventional journey from fieldwork outside a manufacturing plant to leading a research and development (R&D) laboratory focused on chromatographic materials. Pohl will also discuss the invention of pressurized solvent extraction (ASE) and the development of hyperbranched anion exchange materials, highlighting the innovations that shaped his career in chromatography (2).

Next, John Riviello of Trovion Company will deliver a talk titled, “Composite Porous Polymers Using Thermoplastic Supports,” from 9:30 am to 10:00 am. Riviello will discuss how porous polymers, which are used in purification and analytical sciences, serve as stationary phases and sample pretreatment tools in chromatography (3). Riviello will talk about how Pohl, the 2025 Lifetime Achievement awardee, developed the “FishingPohl” technique, which leveraged polymer shrinkage during polymerization to attach porous polymers to inert supports for selective analyte extraction (3). This talk focuses on the synthesis, properties, and applications of these composite porous polymers for aqueous sample pretreatment in chromatography.

Then, from 10:00 am to 10:30 am, M. Farooq Wahab of the University of Texas at Arlington will deliver a talk titled, “Exploring the Feasibility of Using Generative AI and Signal Processing in Solving Separation Science Problems.” Wahab will discuss how the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) is changing analytical chemistry. His talk will explore how generative AI can act as a "colleague" in solving chromatographic challenges, particularly in signal processing (4). Wahab’s talk will also highlight AI-assisted methods for reconstructing true chromatograms free from instrumental distortions and noise (4).

The fourth talk will be delivered by Perrault Uptmor from 10:40 to 11:10 am. Her talk, titled “Retroactive Curiosity Within Your Data: Asking Your Multidimensional Gas Chromatographic Samples Different Questions,” will discuss the ability of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) in extracting deeper insights from complex samples in food and forensic analysis (5). Perrault Uptmor will cover data processing strategies, statistical approaches (supervised vs. unsupervised), and feature comparison metrics to uncover key analytes and patterns within diverse sample data sets (5).

And finally, the award session concludes with a talk from LCGC International troubleshooting columnist and Analytically Speaking podcast host Dwight R. Stoll of Gustavus Adolphus College. Stoll’s talk, titled “Systematic Optimization of Sample Introduction Parameters for Liquid Chromatography Methods Involving Feed Injection,” will be delivered from 11:10 am to 11:40 am. In his talk, Stoll will discuss a systematic approach to optimizing parameters for feed injection, balancing detection sensitivity and chromatographic resolution (6). The talk will highlight how simulation tools can accurately predict the effects of injecting large sample volumes in strong solvents, accelerating method development with minimal additional time (6).

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References

1. Pittcon, LCGC Lifetime Achievement and Emerging Leader in Chromatography. Lab Science Events. Available at: https://labscievents.pittcon.org/event/pittcon-2025/planning/UGxhbm5pbmdfMjQ1NDAyMA== (accessed 2025-02-25).
2. Pittcon, From the Pilot Plant to the Instrumentation R&D Lab, A 50 Year Adventure. Lab Science Events. Available at: https://labscievents.pittcon.org/event/pittcon-2025/planning/UGxhbm5pbmdfMjQ5NTQ3OQ== (accessed 2025-02-25).
3. Pittcon, Composite Porous Polymers Using Thermoplastic Supports. Lab Science Events. Available at: https://labscievents.pittcon.org/event/pittcon-2025/planning/UGxhbm5pbmdfMjQ1NDA1Nw== (accessed 2025-02-25).
4. Pittcon, Exploring the Feasibility of Using Generative AI and Signal Processing in Solving Separation Science Problems. Lab Science Events. Available at: https://labscievents.pittcon.org/event/pittcon-2025/planning/UGxhbm5pbmdfMjQ1NDAyMQ== (accessed 2025-02-25).
5. Pittcon, Retroactive Curiosity Within Your Data: Asking Your Multidimensional Gas Chromatographic Samples Different Questions. Lab Science Events. Available at: https://labscievents.pittcon.org/event/pittcon-2025/planning/UGxhbm5pbmdfMjQ5NTQ4MQ== (accessed 2025-02-25).
6. Pittcon, Systematic Optimization of Sample Introduction Parameters for Liquid Chromatography Methods Involving Feed Injection. Lab Science Events. Available at: https://labscievents.pittcon.org/event/pittcon-2025/planning/UGxhbm5pbmdfMjQ5NTQ4Mg== (accessed 2025-02-25).