Author Archives: Steven Miles

Preparing for our first trip to India

While our chromatography products have been used all over the world for decades, we have only just begun our travels to meet in person with customers in our global community. Our first international trip was to Brazil in 2011, now we’re going to India and China.

In preparation for the trip to India, we met with Ms. Sanskriti “Mithu Inamdar with the Ishanya Dance Company (OK, the truth is that some of us are huge fans of Bollywood and just wanted an excuse to learn some moves).

We’ll be arriving in Mumbai on April 30 and spending the week meeting with business leaders and government officials there and in Bangalore. We can’t wait to meet with our new freinds and explore exciting new ways to make discoveries in chromatography!

Chromatography Forum of the Delaware Valley Spring Symposium

The Chromatography Forum of Delaware Valley was founded in 1965, with the purpose of educating, informing and bringing together scientists interested in separation methods.

Every Spring, the organization holds a Symposium on separation science – here’s a quick look at our time at this year’s symposium:

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Thin Layer Chromatography helps in discovering new fat over lunch

We are firm believers in inspiration and solutions coming to us at any place and any time – so we were happy to see this story:

Scientists discover new fat over lunch

Uncovering new fats, or lipids, with links to diseases in the human eye is as easy as taking a lunch break, according to UOW chemists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology. Dr. Blanksby

The research, conducted by UOW Associate Professor Stephen Blanksby and his PhD student Shane Ellis, used ozone naturally present in laboratory air to find previously unknown lipids in the human lens. Their work was featured as a hot article in a recent edition of the scientific journal, Analyst.

“My lunch breaks are never unproductive,” according to Shane.

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Using a combination of two methods called desorption electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (DESI) and thin layer chromatography (TLC) that the group combined specifically for these experiments, lipids can be characterised in one simple analysis, a significant improvement on older methods.

Click Here to read the complete article.

We tip our hats to Professor Blanksby and Mr. Ellis.

From Chromatography to “The Hunger Games”

The Blockbuster film “The Hunger Games” – based on the novel by Susan Collins – was released in theaters in March.

One of the distinctive things about the film is the costume and hat designs. Scarnati resized 600

We were proud to discover that the person responsible for that distinction was none other than Gina Scarnnati – who handled all of the costuming work for our company video production “The Adventures of Ana L’Tech”

Here’s some excepts from an article in the Wilmington News Journal:

As the head milliner for the mega blockbuster, Scarnati was responsible for translating the Capitol’s opulence in pleated silk satin, feathers and flowers. She designed nearly 200 headpieces in less than two months, including a stunning purple rose/butterfly/fan concoction worn by Effie Trinkett, an escort for District 12 played by Elizabeth Banks.

Scarnati, who has handled dyeing and distressing fabrics for townsfolk in the movie “Cowboys & Aliens” and vampires in HBO’s “True Blood” series, feels at home in a pressure cooker. By the age of 14, she was juggling costume design on three shows at a time.

Needless to say, we are incredibly proud of Gina’s accomplishments – and we’re grateful for the way she shared her talents with us!

Looking ahead to Pittcon 2013

While in Orlando, we had a chance to speak with Pittcon 2013 President Ron Bargiel about what to expect in Philadelphia next year.

He said there’s a lot of excitement about coming to Philadelphia because it’s a new venue for Pittcon and it is located so close to many great companies in the mid-Atlantic region (e.g. the only U.S. based manufacturer of thin layer chromatography plates that supplies products to more than 60 countries around the world).

and yes, we are looking forward to Pittcon 2013 in Philadelphia – just a few miles up the road from us!

Video Recap of Pittcon 2012…

Pittcon 2012 was a great success for us! Reconnecting with old friends and making new friends, sharing information about chromatography and learning from some who have been using our products for years!

Here’s a quick recap of the week that was Pittcon 2012:

Pi Day fun at Pittcon 2012

We had a truly great time celebrating Pi Day at Pittcon!

Here’s some of the tweets leading up the the 1:59 event: 9j6bu resized 600

Yes, we expect it to be a Pi-ous occasion at booth 3326 at #Pittcon at 1:59

Some say we’re trying to act like the Pi-ed Piper at #Pittcon, we just enjoy Pi-ling on for Pi Day – booth 3326 at 1:59 today

Then, the Pi Clock read 1:59 – and it was time to get started – first, we had a round of Pi Poetry readings:

2012 03 14 13 59 22 700 This was followed by several Pi Trivia questions – where winners were awarded with such items as Pi mugs, a Pi Pizza Cutter, a Pi Bottle Opener, a Pi Clock, and even a Pi Shower Curtain!

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We appreciate so much everyone who came out to celebrate Pi Day with us at Pittcon!

Now, it’s time for us to do some Pi-lates…

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Spreading the word about chemistry…

Our friends George Ruger and Jennifer Maclachlan put together a great panel at Pittcon 2012 Tuesday morning exploring new ways to spread the word about chemistry (and chromatography) to learners of all ages.

2012 03 13 08 38 41 641 resized 600 Bottom line – anything you can do to help spread the word about chemistry would be greatly appreciated and could lead to great things for all of us as more minds come to understand this powerful science.

Learn more about the ACS Ambassador program here.

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Morning Pittcon 2012 Tweet Up

We had a great discussion and fun time at the Pittcon 2012 morning Tweet Up!

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Participants included:

George Ruger – @gruger04

William Stearns – @wstearns

Kevin Scully – @MarcomToScience

Jennifer Maclachlan – @pidgirl

Karen Haas – @WatersCorp

Ken Grant – @iChromatography

Ken Piech – @LabX and @LabManager

Ashley Munro – @LabMediaGroup

Melanie Playne – @TheScientistRep

Hailey Hutchison – @RiccaChemical

Janice Fehlberg – @moxtek

Pam Wasielewski – @Pittcon

Jim Grinias – @GriniasChem

Samuel Mbugua – @ankosami

Discussions centered around new developments in social media in the science field, enhanced communications between labs, scientists, and the public, and ways to make science more accessible to the public.

The evening Tweet Up is scheduled for 9:00 at Bahama Breeze.

Pittcon 2012 Opening Ceremonies

Here’s a look at the Pittcon 2012 opening ceremonies in Orlando, Florida:

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Miles Scientific

All Things Chromatography Blog