Pittsburgh, PA, November 25, 2009 - Pittcon 2010 is pleased to annouce the highlights of the 21st James L. Waters Annual Symposium, which is a unique component of the Pittcon Technical Program. The objective of the symposium is to recognize pioneers in the development of instrumentation and the important contribution of LC/MS to the world of analytical chemistry. This year's Waters Symposium will be held at Pittcon 2010 on Monday, March 1, at 2:00 p.m, in the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida.

An outstanding panel of speakers has been assembled to recognize and review the development, widespread commercial application, and current research in LC/MS. The symposium, "Liquid Chromatography Interface with Mass Spectroscopy - LC/MS" will include:

Dr. Jack Henion, Emeritus Professor of Toxicology, Cornell University

Dr. Jack Henion, Emeritus Professor of Toxicology at Cornell University, has been a member of the College of Veterinary Medicine since 1976. Professor Henion earned his PhD from the State University at Albany in synthetic organic chemistry. Following post doctoral studies in ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, he commenced a productive tenure as professor of toxicology at Cornell University. During his tenure at Cornell, Professor Henion conducted research and explored applications in many areas of liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) employing atmospheric pressure ionization (API) sources. He is a co-founder of Advion BioSciences and has served as Chairman, President and CEO. Professor Henion was appointed Chief Scientific Officer for Advion BioSciences and currently is Chairman of the Board of Directors. Professor Henion has published over 200 peer reviewed papers in the scientific literature, trained over 50 students and post doctorals, and received 9 patents for inventions developed from his work. Dr. Henion has received numerous awards including the 2008 Eastern Analytical Symposium Award for outstanding achievements in mass spectrometry.

Dr. William H. McFadden, Retired

Dr. William H. McFadden received his PhD from the University of Utah studying The Mass Spectra of Deuterated Butanes. Dr. McFadden did a Post Doctoral at Cornell University under Dr. Peter J.W. Debye. He first used gas chromatography in 1956 for the separation of radioactive compound formed during Szilar-Chalmers reactions at Atomic Energy of Canada. In 1959, he joined The USDA, Western Regional Laboratories and assigned responsibility for setting up a mass spectrometry facility. In 1973, Dr. McFadden joined Finnigan Instruments and developed the Moving Belt Interface for LC/MS and then worked on development of the Thermospray Interface. He has been retired since 1989.



Dr. Thomas R. Covey, Principle Research Scientist, MDS Analytical Technologies/Sciex

Dr. Thomas R. Covey, the Principle Research Scientist at MDS Analytical Technologies/Sciex, is part of a group focused on new innovations in mass spectrometry. Tom received his PhD at Cornell University working on developing a variety of types of interfaces for LC/MS instrumentation and testing them with real-world problems. After leaving Cornell, he continued his career in the instrumentation area working for the Finnigan and Nermag mass spectrometry companies for several years. Tom’s contributions to the field of applied analytical research include 18 patents in the field of mass spectrometry; 8 of which have achieved commercial status, 7 scientific reviews of the field of LC/MS, and 73 authored or co-authored papers in the reviewed scientific literature

Dr. Marvin L. Vestal, CEO, Virgin Instruments

Dr. Marvin L. Vestal is CEO of Virgin Instruments. Marvin received his PhD at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, in chemical physics. He spent one year at the University of Utah as a Research Associate Professor of Chemistry. He became an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Houston, Texas. He became President of Vestec Corporation in Houston. He then became vice president of PerSeptive Biosystems in Framingham, Massachusetts. He held several positions in Applied Biosystem/PerSeptive, including Principal Scientist. He founded Virgin Instruments in 2004 and assumed positions of CEO and CSO for Virgin Instruments. Marvin has received several awards including Field and Franklin Award for Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry, Scientific Fell for PerSeptive Biosystems and Lester W. Strock Award. Marvin has authored and co-authored numerous publications and has received numerous patents related to mass spectrometry.


About Pittcon 2010
This year, Pittcon, the premier annual conference and exposition on laboratory science, will be held in Orlando, Florida, at the Orange County Convention Center, West Building, from February 28 to March 5, 2010. Proceeds from Pittcon fund science education and outreach at all levels, kindergarten through adult. Pittcon 2010 will donate nearly a million dollars in the form of science equipment grants, research grants, scholarships, and internships for students, awards to teachers and professors, and grants to public science centers, libraries and museums

Visit www.pittcon.org for more information.