Pittcon Hits The Big Easy

Pages 2-6

A snapshot of what's on offer for chromatographers at Pittcon 2015 from 8–12 March 2015 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Pittcon 2015 will be held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, which is centrally located in the culturally rich city of New Orleans in Louisiana, USA. With more than $1.57 billion worth of improvements made to the city in 2013, New Orleans remains an attractive tourist destination, steeped in European traditions and Caribbean influences.

Photo Credit: Amritendu Maji/Getty Images

There are more than 1300 restaurants offering a diverse range of cuisine, and all of the city's restaurants, attractions, tours, accommodations, and event venues are within walking distance of each other - making it the perfect setting for networking. Within the 12-blocks of the historic French Quarter, you can enjoy the charm of New Orleans, all while attending Pittcon in the Crescent City. New Orleans combines big city choices with small town friendliness.

Pittcon 2015 will be an unforgettable global experience for chromatographers, with the exposition showcasing the latest innovations in chromatographic and ancillary equipment from leading companies from over 30 countries. It is estimated that around half of the exhibitors use Pittcon to launch new products and technologies, giving conferees a competitive edge. Technical experts will be on hand to answer questions, trouble-shoot issues, and provide useful tips to help your laboratory run more effectively and efficiently.

Live demonstrations and exhibitor seminars give participants valuable insights into product functionality and applications. The expo opens the morning of 9 March 2015, after a brief opening ceremony that will feature remarks from the Pittcon 2015 president.

Technical Programme

A key feature of the conference is the technical programme, which will give attendees the opportunity to hear about the latest research and findings from prominent scientists, as well as network with established colleagues and forge new relationships. The 2015 technical programme will begin on Sunday 8 March and will be presented by world-renowned scientists. It will include symposia, contributed and oral sessions, workshops, awards, and posters covering a variety of subject areas including liquid and gas chromatography in a wide range of applications such as environmental, genomics, proteomics, fuels/energy, analytical chemistry, materials science, food science, pharmaceuticals, polymers/plastics, QA/QC, and water/wastewater.

The conference will open with the Wallace H. Coulter Lecture entitled Plasmonics: Shedding Light on Cross-Cutting Science and Technologies presented by Naomi J. Halas, Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University, USA. Halas's research is in the field of plasmonics, creating the concept of the "tunable plasmon" and inventing a family of nanoparticles with resonances spanning the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum. These tiny structures called "gold nanoshells" may someday help to treat tumours. The following is a sample of other highlights on offer:

• Advances in Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography, by Peter Carr, Imad Haidar Ahmad, Brian Barnes, and Robert Allen from the University of Minnesota, USA, will compare comprehensive on-line two-dimensional liquid chromatography (LC×LC) that can produce considerable larger peak capacities in analysis times as short as 15 min to optimized one-dimensional separations.

• Development of an Analytical Toolbox for Characterization of Protein and Polysaccharide-Conjugate Vaccine Antigens based on Traditional and Novel Column Technologies, by Nathan Lacher from Pfizer Inc. will describe the development of chromatographic methods that can be used for the advancement of vaccine candidates from discovery through commercialization. The focus will be on methods that allow for a better understanding of size, charge, and other attributes and that may impact the immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate.

• Advances in Separation with Capillary Liquid Chromatography, by Gert Desmet, Wim De Malsche, Manly Callewaert, Heidi Ottevaere, and Hugo Thienpont from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, will demonstrate the possibility of rapid multicomponent separations and the potential to achieve very low plate heights with a microfabricated column in pressure-driven LC.

• Gas Chromatography Monitoring of Postharvest Fumigants, by Leonel Roberto Jimenez from the University of California Irvine, USA, and Spencer S. Walse and Wiley A. Hall from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will address the issues associated with the increasing trade of foodstuffs across the globe, and preserving and protecting commodities from pests. Lecturers will present post-harvest fumigation as a valuable tool for achieving pest-free security and how it must be monitored to ensure success.

• Development of Novel Forensic Sampling Methods and Evaluation of Microextraction Data for the Identification and Classification of Forensic Specimens Utilizing Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry, by Kenneth G. Furton, Lauren Colon, Vanquilla Shellman, Michelle Cerreta, Rodolfo Messa, and Abuzar Kabir, from the Florida International University in the USA will introduce recent applications of new and existing microextraction sampling methods developed for the classification of a wide variety of forensic specimens.

• Use of Stable Isotopes and Metabolite Profiling for Functional Characterization of Dysregulated Gene Expression and Protein Function Seen in Diabetes Development, by Irwin J. Kurlan from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA, will discuss the advances in metabolomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and in vivo stable isotope-based fluxomics that have made it possible to interrogate metabolic pathways in unprecedented detail.

Pittcon 2015 Award Ceremonies

An important feature of Pittcon is to recognize and honour the achievements of scientists who have made outstanding contributions to analytical chemistry and applied spectroscopy. The Chromatography Forum of the Delware Valley Dal Nogare Award will be presented to Mark R. Schure from Kroungold Analytical Inc. (Pennsylvania, USA). An awardee is chosen on the basis of his or her contributions to the fundamental understanding of the chromatographic process.

Featured in this particular prize session will be the following presentations:

• Particle Simulation Methods in Separation Science Research, by Mark R. Schure from Kroungold Analytical Inc. (Pennsylvania, USA).

• An Alternative to Sub-2-μm UHPLC Columns, by Joseph J. DeStefano, Barry E. Boyes, Stephanie A. Schuster, William L. Miles, and Joseph J. Kirkland from Advanced Materials Technology, Inc. (Pennsylvania, USA).

• The Continuing Evolution of Multidimensional Chromatography, by Hernan J. Cortes from HJ Cortes Consulting, LLC. (Michigan, USA).

• The Analysis and Characterization of Bioconjugates by Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry, by Robert E. Murphy from Kroungold Analytical Inc. (Pennsylvania, USA).

• Sequential Elution Liquid Chromatography with Multimodal or Serially-Coupled Columns, by Joe Foley, Catherine Kita, Adam Socia, Erin Ennis, and Michael Fletcher from Drexel University (Pennsylvania, USA).

The 2015 LCGC Lifetime Achievement in Chromatography Award will be given to Joseph Jack Kirkland of Advanced Materials Technology, Inc., and the 2015 LCGC Lifetime Achievement in Chromatography Award will be presented to Caroline West of the University of Orléans (France).

Professional Development

Another important aspect of the educational component at Pittcon is the short course programme, which offers more than 50 courses covering topics relevant to gas and liquid chromatography. Taught by leading experts in their field, the classes range from beginner to advanced levels in half-day up to two-day sessions. Short courses are extremely affordable and are suitable for the seasoned professional, recent graduate, or researcher interested in learning a new skill set. The following is a sample of several of the short courses on offer:

• Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography: A one-day beginner course that will be taught by Dwight Stoll of Gustavus Adolphus College and Peter Carr of the University of Minnesota.

• Essentials of HPLC/UHPLC 1: Fundamentals and Applications: Michael Dong from Genentech will be teaching this course, which is an intermediate one-day course.

• Highly Successful Strategies for LC–MS Quantitation: Current Applications and Emerging Technologies: A beginner one-day course that will be taught by Rick King from PharmaCadence Analytical Services.

• Measurement and Interpretation of pH in Aqueous and Non-Aqueous Solutions and Other Stuff: An intermediate half-day course that will be taught by Bill Tindall from Analytical Science Solutions.

Networking Sessions

The ability to network face-to-face has always been identified as one of the major benefits of attending Pittcon. Conferee networking sessions are one of the ways that Pittcon brings attendees with similar interests together to discuss new techniques, resolve problems, and brainstorm ideas. These two-hour sessions are included in the cost of registration and cover topics such as specialty analysis, nanotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and more.

Stay Connected

To help organize all there is to see and do during conference week, the Pittcon mobile application is available to download for free to iOS and Android devices. The app provides complete details about exhibitors, technical sessions, short courses, conferee networking, and New Orleans nightlife and dining options.

This year's conference and exposition will have something for everyone in one place for one exciting, productive week.

E-mail: publicity@pittcon.org

Website: www.pittcon.org

This article is from The Column. The full issue can be found here>>