At the beginning of March, we attended the Pittcon 2025 in Boston, the world’s leading conference and exposition for laboratory science, bringing together experts across pharma, biopharma, food, environmental, and energy industries. As always, Pittcon proved to be more than just a conference—it was a hub of collaboration where professionals from across the analytical sciences came together to exchange ideas, spark innovation, and build connections. Known as one of the largest gatherings of scientists, engineers, and educators, Pittcon serves as an important platform for both the exchange of knowledge and the sharing of cutting-edge research and technologies. This year’s conference was no exception, bringing together an incredible array of innovations and the brightest minds in chemistry.
Hub for Education and Networking
For those of us who see education as the cornerstone of scientific progress, Pittcon remains an invaluable space for growth and inspiration. Over the course of the event, Anthias Consulting, regular attendees at Pittcon, had the opportunity to teach a variety of short courses, focusing on topics such as maintenance, troubleshooting and method development in gas and liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry—two areas in which Anthias Consulting Ltd. has built a well-respected reputation. These sessions attracted professionals eager to refine their technical knowledge and practical skills. Dr. Diane Turner, our Founder and Senior Consultant, attended alongside Dr. Giles Edwards and relish helping chemists and analysts tackle the complexities of modern instrumentation, and this year, the level of engagement and enthusiasm was particularly exciting.
This year, we also delivered workshops including:
• Brainstorming sustainable GC and GC-MS methods
• Outreach Programs and Feasibility Discussion for Instrument Donations to Academics in Developing Countries
• Brainstorming sustainable LC and LC-MS methods
These were interactive events encouraging brainstorming, focussing on sustainable methods, and exploring outreach programs and instrument donations in developing countries, reinforcing our commitment to global scientific development,
“I’ve been teaching short courses at Pittcon, both in-person and online, since 2019. My short courses this year were well attended and the delegates were great, they were engaged, interactive and asked lots of good questions! It was lovely to see them around the exhibition later in the week too, to stop for a chat” mentions Diane.
This was Diane’s first time facilitating a workshop at Pittcon. She commented:
“My first was on sustainable GC & GC-MS methods and it went better than I could have hoped for! Lots of people were interested in making their methods more sustainable and after a few slides to set the scene we were into full discussions, ideas and they had lots to contribute. One person’s feedback was how they liked how methodical it was, considering all the steps from sample collection (taking enough sample, but not too much which makes transportation and storage less sustainable), through analysis (taking steps to ensure this is successful and repeat analysis isn’t required) through to data analysis and reporting.”
Collaboration and Community at the Forefront
Diane and Giles are both trustees of the Recycling Organisation for Research Opportunities (RORO) charity, and were grateful to collaborate with the Pittcon team, who supplied a travel grant enabling academics who have been recipients of RORO donated instrumentation to present their work at the conference.
Yannick Oyono, from the University of Maroua, Cameroon won the grant and presented his work on "Chemical markers identification and quantification for the quality control of herbal medicines in Cameroon" and has been using the Waters Quattro Premier LC-MS/MS system that was donated and installed by RORO at the University of Yaoundé in 2023. As well as hosting Yannick, Diane and Giles had meetings with the Pittcon Presidents (current and future) to discuss their support of RORO for next year.
“It was so lovely to meet Yannick at Pittcon. After discussing the possibility of Pittcon sponsoring a RORO instrument recipient to attend this year’s conference with Heather and Neal at Pittcon in San Diego last year, it was wonderful to see all of the plans come together, he certainly made the most of the opportunity! Thank you so much to the Pittcon Presidents for making it all happen and Giles for pulling it all together.” said Diane.
Reflecting on a Successful Conference
In terms of the rest of Anthias Consulting’s time at Pittcon, Diane remarked:
“I always love attending face-to-face conferences with lots of opportunities to catch-up with friends and colleagues and meet new people. It was wonderful to catch-up with Janet Freshwater at the RSC and celebrate the publication of the first book in the series, then discuss the upcoming Solutions in Science conference, for which I’m on the scientific committee, with Chris Jarvis at International Labmate who are the organisers. The party at Boston Science Museum was fun, I had to take lots of photos of crystals, robots and dinosaurs which my children would have loved to see!”
Pittcon continues to be an invaluable opportunity for us to share expertise, learn from fellow professionals, and contribute to the wider analytical chemistry community. We would like to extend my gratitude to the conference organizers for hosting such a successful event, as well as to all the attendees and collaborators who made it an unforgettable experience. We’re already looking forward to next year!
If you are interested in learning more about Anthias Consulting Ltd. and our work in providing expert training and consultancy services for analytical professionals, please visit our website at www.anthias.co.uk. We’re excited to continue fostering innovation and education in the field of chemistry. And of course, if you missed out on our courses this year, we hope to see you at Pittcon 2026, San Antonio, Texas. I can assure you that it will be another event not to be missed.
