FOCUS
FACSS
1992 CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS Nancy J. Miller-Ihli U.S. Department of Agriculture Nutrient Composition Laboratory Beltsville, MD 20705
The 19th annual meeting of the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS) was held Sept. 2 0 - 2 5 at the Adams Mark Hotel in Philadelphia, PA. Designed to b r i n g t o g e t h e r s c i e n t i s t s who share an interest in problem solving, FACSS is considered by many to be one of the most important technical analytical meetings held annually. This year's program of expanded coverage, which emphasized emerging technologies in the analytical, spectroscopic, chemical, and biochemical sciences, confirmed t h i s opinion. More t h a n 1700 persons attended the conference, and approximately 800 papers and posters were presented throughout the week in parallel sessions. This FOCUS is i n t e n d e d to highlight conference events of interest to the analytical audience. This article not subject to U.S. copyright. Published 1992 American Chemical Society.
FACSS is perhaps best known for its impressive spectroscopy program; the more t h a n 50 symposia related to spectroscopy this year substantiated this reputation. The sessions devoted to MS, focusing on ion trapping, FTMS, and high mass analysis, were of particular interest to conferees. The historic prominence of a strong prog r a m in p l a s m a spectroscopy was continued w i t h symposia on ICP, ICPMS, plasma diagnostics, and sample introduction strategies. Graphite furnace AAS symposia focused on fundamentals, applications, and solid and slurry sampling. The chromatography field was also well represented. A variety of sessions covered topics such as separation scientists of the 21st century, c h r o m a t o g r a p h y in t h e D e l a w a r e Valley, size exclusion, advances in preparative chromatography, and SFE. Milos Novotny of Indiana Univ e r s i t y , w h o r e c e i v e d t h e 1992 ANACHEM award, discussed microcolumn separation systems during a symposium held in his honor. Chro-
m a t o g r a p h e r s a n d spectroscopists joined forces for a symposium on element-specific detection in chromatography using plasmas. T h r e e excellent poster sessions contributed to the success of the program. The Tuesday evening poster session focused on a wide range of spectroscopic techniques, including glow discharges, ICP, electrothermal vaporization ICPMS, atomic fluorescence, and g r a p h i t e furnace AAS. Wednesday evening's poster session included presentations on ion chromatography, HPLC, FT-IR and laser spectroscopy, NMR and 1 3 C NMR spectroscopy, and liquid adsorption chromatography. A third poster session devoted to general topics was held Thursday evening and included thermosonimetry of polymers, comparison of methods for determining cyanide, bone lead analysis, and submicrometer optical fiber chemical and biological sensors. The poster s e s s i o n s w e r e well a t t e n d e d a n d s p a r k e d m a n y i n t e r e s t i n g discussions.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 64, NO. 24, DECEMBER 15, 1992 · 1171 A
FOCUS S e v e r a l special s y m p o s i a w e r e highlighted in the program. One of these honored the late Peter Keliher, a professor at Villanova University who w a s closely involved in t h e FACSS organization. Through the years, Keliher served the group in a variety of capacities, including governing board chair, exhibits chair, and assistant program chair. Many of his friends and colleagues from around the world participated in the symposium, which was organized by J u l i a n Tyson of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. FACSS also serves as the forum for recognizing outstanding young scientists pursuing graduate degrees. This year, three Hirschfeld award winners were named: Vasilis Gregoriou of Duke University for his work on FT-IR spectroscopy, Patrick Limbach of The Ohio State University for his work on Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance, and Jeff Mazzeo of Northeastern University for his work on capillary isoelectric focusing. The FACSS Student Award went to Evelyn Guizhen Su, a graduate student at the University of Connecticut working under the direction of Rob-
ert Michel. Cheryl Bye, a graduate student at the University of Illinois working under the direction of Alexander Scheeline, received the SAS student award. As is traditional with FACSS, several short courses and workshops were held in conjunction with the meeting. FACSS workshops historically have been well attended, and this year spectroscopists found the chemometrics, statistics, and sample preparation courses of particular interest. SAS short courses held on the weekend before the conference also attracted a number of participants. The employment bureau, available to employers and conferees from Monday through Thursday, was a popular place for employers and potential employees to review work opportunities.
resented. Manufacturers displayed their latest offerings and had a good number of technical support people on hand to answer questions. Catalog, optical, and chemical companies were also well represented, as were publishing companies and many specialty companies whose custom services support research efforts. The 1992 FACSS conference was indeed a success. Please mark your calendar with dates for FACSS XX, to be held Oct. 17-22, 1993, in Detroit. The deadline for title submission is Feb. 1, 1993. If you would like to place your name on the FACSS mailing list or if you need additional information about the meeting, send your request to FACSS, P.O. Box 278, Manhattan, KS 66502-0003 or call the Frederick, MD, office at (301) 846-4797.
Conferees enjoyed one of the largest instrument exhibits in the history of FACSS, which was kicked off with a well-attended wine and cheese reception on Monday evening. More than 100 booths occupied the soldout exhibition area, and nearly all major suppliers of spectroscopic instruments and equipment were rep-
Nancy J. Miller-Ihli served as publicity chair for FACSS in 1991 and 1992. A research ckemist in the Nutrient Composition Laboratory at the USDA, she received her B.A. degree in chemistry from Shippensburg University (PA) and her Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Maryland.
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