David Walsh

The LCGC Awards have now been in existence since 2008, and with several years of award winners now active in the chromatography community, it is fair to say that we now have a reasonable track record and body of work to review in measuring the impact these awards have had, both on the industry and on the winners themselves.

The tragic Gulf Oil Spill, which has gripped the nation's collective consciousness for most of the summer, is only now beginning to turn the corner toward a long, slow recovery.

For some time now, readers have probably noticed the green "Chromacademy" logo at the end of their favorite columns and research articles here in the print issue of LCGC North America.

Welcome to the first global edition of The Column. This issue sees a merger with The Peak from LC–GC North America to create one global digital magazine.

With May's ASMS Conference now receding in the collective rearview mirror of the industry, the summer is as good a time as any to take stock of the analytical chemistry marketplace. This year's show, held in Salt Lake City, Utah, demonstrated once again the vitality and robustness of the field of mass spectrometry, as innovation and technological advancement were in evidence everywhere you looked.

For anyone who makes his or her living in the field of analytical chemistry, and more specifically, in the fields of chromatography or spectroscopy, the debate concerning the state of the conference industry is well known to say the least.

Many readers who also subscribe to LCGC's sister publication, Spectroscopy, may have read industry expert Bob McDowall's November 2009 column on the new posture of the U.S. FDA ("The Tiger Has Sharp New Teeth," Spectroscopy 24[11], 23–29 [2009]). As he saw it, "The new FDA Commissioner wants a strong FDA and is backing her words with action."

Good morning, and welcome to the final day of LCGC?s coverage from Pittcon 2010. To say the week has flown by would be an understatement, as I?m sure many conference-goers share our feeling that the conference has been a blur of activity to this point.

As anyone involved in the field of analytical chemistry can tell you, food safety is a topic that is garnering more and more attention, not only in separations laboratories and in technical sessions at conferences and symposia around the world, but in the most telling place of all: the mainstream media.

The winners of LCGC's third annual awards were announced at Pittcon 2010.

Good morning, and welcome to this, the opening day of LCGC?s coverage from Pittcon 2010 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The staff of LCGC is proud to bring readers three days of coverage from this, the premier event in the field of analytical chemistry.

Welcome to this special Pittcon 2010 Preview, brought to you by the staff of LCGC. Pittcon 2010, set to run from February 28 to March 5 in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, promises to be one of the most anticipated events in the field of analytical chemistry ? primarily because of its continuing position as the premier event in the industry, but also because of its added importance this year as a bellweather for the state of the conference industry as a whole.

Good morning, and welcome to Day 2 of LCGC's E-Show Dailies from Pittcon 2010. Pittcon is officially in full swing, with a host of technical sessions, awards, and other events taking place today, all covered here by the staff of LCGC.

Most readers of LCGC are no doubt familiar with the debate that has been going on within the field of analytical chemistry concerning the conference industry. Are in-person events becoming less popular? Will budget-tightening impact attendance significantly in 2010? And so on. While there is certainly some validity to the theory that in-person meetings in general are not as business-critical as they once were, to get an idea of how the staff of LCGC feels about this debate, one has only to look at the schedule of events we have planned for Pittcon 2010, set to run from February 28 to March 5 in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

By the time readers are opening the pages of this issue, we will all have turned the calendar on 2009 and left it behind for what will hopefully be a brighter 2010. Humorist Bill Vaughan once famously said of New Year's Eve: "An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves." Given the financial year we all just experienced, my suspicion is there may be a few more people in the latter group than in the former this year. However, here at LCGC, we can't help but be optimistic about 2010.

For many in the world of chromatography and separation science in general, it has been a long 12 months to say the least. With an economic recession gripping the nation and causing secondary effects such as the well-documented "Great Acetonitrile Shortage of 2009," it is easy to see why many readers will not be sorry to see the end of 2009, and why they will be all too happy to welcome in 2010.

It seems hard to believe that we are already nearing the holidays and the end of 2009. And for many in the world of separation science, after weathering difficult economic conditions, solvent shortages, and more, welcoming in 2010 will be something to look forward to indeed.

They say it takes several years for an awards program to really get off the ground and start amassing a history, establishing a place for itself in the industry. If this is true, then I believe we can safely say that this year, the LCGC Pittcon Awards have officially arrived. With past Lifetime Achievement Award winners such as Walt Jennings and Harold McNair, and bright young stars such as Gert Desmet and Kevin Schug claiming Emerging Leader honors over the past couple of years, there is a great deal of suspense building over who will win the 2010 awards, set to be presented at Pittcon 2010 in Orlando, Florida.

There is an old saying regarding the world of fashion that says if you wait long enough, everything comes back into style eventually.

There is an old saying regarding the world of fashion that says if you wait long enough, everything comes back into style eventually. While this saying may have provided the necessary excuse for many people (myself included) to avoid throwing away favorite old articles of clothing, the underlying truth that everything is cyclical cannot be denied, and this certainly holds just as true for the field of chromatography as it does for any other field.

September marks the beginning of a busy time in the world of analytical chemistry, with several conferences taking place in the span of just a few months.

By now, a reader would have to be living in a log cabin without electricity to be unaware of the acetonitrile shortage currently gripping the chromatography market. The causes, effects, and possible solutions have been documented thoroughly in the pages of LCGC and other industry journals, to the point where the basic facts are common knowledge: the shortage began with (among other factors) the depression of the automobile industry and the consequent reduced production levels. With ACN being a byproduct of this process, its production was reduced as well.

At LCGC, our editorial mission revolves around providing practical solutions and nuts and bolts advice to help chromatographers and separation scientists in their labs everyday.

It's hard to believe these three days have gone by so quickly, but here we are on the last day of this week's show coverage

Welcome again, to Day 2 of ASMS 2009. We?re pleased to bring you our continued coverage from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ASMS is in full swing, and last night?s hospitality suites were as crowded as ever, as you might imagine. Tonight promises to be another crowded night at the Marriott, but before then, there is a whole day of mass spectrometry-related science.

Good morning, and welcome to this, the opening day of LCGC?s and Spectroscopy?s ASMS E-Show Dailies from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For the next three days, we will be covering all that is new and exciting at ASMS this year, from technical sessions to plenary lectures to the social networking that is a big part of any conference.

At a time when the conference and symposium industry seems to be dominated by giants such as Pittcon and ASMS, it is refreshing to find a thriving boutique conference like the 9th Annual Csaba Horvath Symposium held April 28?29 at the Hartford Convention Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

Without question, the current acetonitrile shortage has become the hottest topic in the chromatography world in recent memory. The influx of shortage-related articles, conservation tips, and even explorations of alternative separations instrumentation has been enormous at LCGC, with many brilliant and innovative ideas being presented to get laboratories through these hard times

Current Trends in Mass Spectrometry Goes Global

Without question, the current acetonitrile shortage has become the hottest topic in the chromatography world in recent memory.