In a timely presentation, Dr Graham Rideal of Whitehouse Scientific will give a paper on particle size calibration at the next meeting of the Particle Characterisation Interest Group of The Royal Society of Chemistry, being held on 17 June 2010 in Castle Donington, UK.  

Particles have enjoyed a wide press in recent weeks thanks to the disruption to air travel caused by volcanic ash over Europe. "This conference is particularly relevant at the moment," said Dr Rideal, "as there has been some rather unscientific speculation and comment in the media about the size of particles in dust clouds and the potential damage that can be caused to aircraft engines."  

While the main focus of the one-day meeting is particle characterisation by image analysis, Professor Richard Holdich of Loughborough University will, in his plenary lecture, discuss the particle size of the dust cloud and touch on the methods used to measure it.  

As part of his own presentation Dr Rideal will be looking at particulates and aircraft from a slightly different point of view, introducing a new test method for calibrating fuel lines. 

In a packed programme for the day, leading industry experts will describe the latest techniques for particle size analysis from millimetre to nanometer sizes. There will be a poster session and displays from providers of image analysis systems.

The conference is open to anyone and full details are available at www.particle-imaging.net/index.html