Pittcon 2010 reported today that 16,876 attendees from 87 countries participated in the annual Conference and Exposition, which was held in Orlando, Florida, February 28 to March 5, 2010. The scientific event was marked by a 2% increase in conferees over Pittcon 2006, which was the last time Pittcon was held in Orlando, Florida. A detailed summary of attendance is available at www.pittcon.org.  

The Exposition included 960 exhibiting companies, who occupied 2,005 booths and showcased their latest laboratory instrumentation, equipment and services across a broad range of applications and technologies, including separation sciences, mass spectrometry, spectroscopy, nanotechnology, laboratory automation and informatics.  There were 188 companies (19.5%) from 28 countries outside of the United States. This year, Pittcon welcomed 125 first time exhibitors.   

Pittcon 2010 also recognized Waters Corporation for achieving a significant milestone as a 50-Year Pittcon exhibitor and for their continued commitment to Pittcon and the scientific community.

The comprehensive Technical Program included more than 2,200 individual presentations distributed among Invited Symposia, Organized Contributed Sessions, Achievement Awards, Workshops, and Poster presentations. More than 100 invited speakers addressed topics of global interest, including alternative and sustainable energy, food and drug safety, environmental issues, new materials development, and bioanalytical techniques. Alan G. Marshall, Robert O. Lawton Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University and Director of the Ion Cyclotron Resonance Program at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory delivered the plenary lecture, "The Role of High-End Instrumentation" to a capacity crowd of 1,200 attendees. His talk focused on how high-end analytical instrumentation has both advanced state-of-the art applications and has stimulated higher performance of the more widely available lower-end instrumentation.

New this year, Pittcon 2010 conferees can view 50 Technical Presentations via Webcast on the Pittcon Website. The webcasts will be available for viewing until May 7, 2010. More than 1,100 conferees also took advantage of the educational opportunities offered by the Pittcon Short Course program consisting of more than 100 courses in 60 topics areas.

Pittcon continued to grow its community through co-programming partnerships with external scientific organizations. Pittcon 2010 welcomed the American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry (ACS-DAC) for their contributions to the Technical Program. Pittcon also hosted symposia, workshops and presentations from the Association for Lab Managers (ALMA), Association for Lab Automation (ALA),  Japanese Analytical Instrument Manufacturers Association (JAIMA), Professional's Network in Advanced Instrumentation Society (PAI-NET), Society for Applied Spectroscopy (SAS), Society of Electroanalytical Chemistry (SEAC), and Lab Manager magazine.  

Networking opportunities were abundant at Pittcon 2010 including social mixers, exhibitor-sponsored Lunch & Learn meetings, and Conferee Networking Sessions. Pittcon will continue to facilitate scientific networking year round with its new online scientific community, called Pittconnect.com, which was launched just prior to Pittcon 2010.

Pittcon 2010 President Annette Wilson noted, "Pittcon 2010 was another great success and testimony to the value of live interaction. The annual conference and exposition continues to be the leading forum for scientific innovation and education across multiple disciplines."  She added, "We believe that Orlando will continue to be an excellent venue for Pittcon as biotechnology continues to flourish in Florida."  

For final statistics on Pittcon 2010 and preliminary information on Pittcon 2011, which will be held March 13 to March 18, 2011, at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, visit www.pittcon.org, contact us at 800-825-3221 x 203, or send an email to publicity@pittcon.org  

About Pittcon

Pittcon® is a registered trademark of The Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, a Pennsylvania non-profit organization. Co-sponsored by the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh and the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh, Pittcon is the premier annual conference and exposition on laboratory science. Proceeds from Pittcon fund science education and outreach at all levels, kindergarten through adult. Pittcon donates nearly a million dollars each year 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.