Editors' Column
Symposium on the Future of Analytical Chemistry at FACSS your source for
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A symposium on "The Future of Analytical Chemistry" was held in September in conjunction with the Ninth Annual Meeting of FACSS, the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies. The symposium was arranged by Andrew T. Zander of SpectraMetrics and was chaired by George H. Morrison, professor of chemistry at Cornell University and Editor of ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY. Speakers at the symposium included T. J. Logan of Procter & Gamble (see Anal. Chem. 1981,53, 1475-81 A), H. J. Rose of the U.S. Geological Survey, Marvin Margoshes of Technicon Instruments, and David Coleman of Wayne State University. Two of these presentations are summarized below.
Preparing Analytical Chemists for Real Life According to Marvin Margoshes of Technicon Instruments Corporation, there is a disparity between the teaching of analytical chemistry in academia and its practice in industry and government. The problem, says Margoshes, is that students are not learning enough of the skills that are needed by the effective industrial analyst. In his presentation, Margoshes explained that virtually all academic research and teaching are directed at measurement (see the box labeled "Measurement" in the lower left-hand corner of Figure 1), even though analytical chemistry involves a lot more than just measurement. Most graduating chemists go to work for industry and government, but, by and large, their education does not prepare them for these jobs, said Margoshes. "Students don't really understand what it is they're going to be
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doing once they graduate. This is unfortunate, because I think industrial research is challenging, and therefore a lot of fun. It's more fun than doing research of the type that's done in universities, because there's more challenge to it." Students "come out of the universities attached to a particular measurement technique and try to do everything with it," he said. Margoshes indicated it is more important for the student of analytical chemistry to learn how to decide what sample handling, analytical method, and data processing are best for a specific application. In addition, students are discouraged from seeking industrial postdoctoral positions, for fear of being closed out of academia. This means that few professors have industrial experience. George Morrison (who was chairing the session) is one of the exceptions, said Margoshes. He explained that Morrison's research, with its emphasis on real-world samples, reflects his prior industrial experience, and said it was unfortunate there weren't more teachers of analytical chemistry with this sort of industrial background. Margoshes was surprised, he said later, that his presentation didn't seem to upset anybody. "I thought I was going to get a lot of flak. Instead I saw a lot of agreement. The academic people do recognize the shortcomings in the present system." And he is encouraged by the new course on "professional" aspects of chemistry at the University of Delaware, designed to prepare graduate students for careers in industry (Anal. Chem. 1982,54, 1109-10 A). "I don't claim to have the answers to the problems," he said. "I have some ideas on what might be done,
Problem
How a one-person chemistry dept. can match the big guys.
Output
Solution
Model
Plan
Sample
Measurement
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Quality Control
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Planning Primary Secondary Data Flow Figure 1. The components of an analytical measurement system This figure originally appeared in a REPORT by John K. Taylor (Anal. Chem. 1981, 53, 1588-96 A)
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but I couldn't give you a whole syllabus of courses to teach analytical chemistry differently. That's what I think has to be discussed." Motivating a New Generation of Chemists Expressing another concern at the FACSS symposium was David Coleman of Wayne State University: "The problem is not whether we are going to be able to attract students into analytical chemistry, but whether we're going to have any students going into the sciences at all." According to Coleman, we're running short on scientists, engineers, and mathematicians, and at least part of the problem originates with a decreasing emphasis on science in our high schools. It was recently reported, said Coleman, that there is a critical shortage of high school chemistry teachers in 10 states and a moderate shortage in 27 others (Chem. Eng. News 1982,60 (29), 9-16). Many fine teachers have left teaching to take up other professions. Such was certainly not the case for Coleman's high school chemistry teacher, who, Coleman discovered, had left the National Bureau of Standards, where he had been a spectroscopies to pursue a career teaching chemistry. In interviewing his first chemistry teacher, Coleman discovered there
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have been a number of changes in his northern Minnesota high school since he graduated in 1966. In the sixties, said Coleman, the state of Minnesota required that each student take a minimum of two science courses, one of which had to be a laboratory course. In 1982, on the other hand, science courses were no longer on the required list. The chemistry enrollment in 1965 was ~200, but the number dropped to just 23 in the 1981 school year. High school students today, said Coleman, often avoid science courses for fear of ending up with lower grade averages. "There are no obvious solutions to these problems," Coleman admitted, "but, for one thing, chemists are going to have to become a little more political. They've got to get behind measures like the Schmidt-Heckler bill, which was designed to restore science and math at the high school level." He recommended that analytical professors go into the high schools and encourage the brighter science students to spend a summer in the research laboratory, even if there is no program to support this officially. And at the graduate level, the stipends have to be increased. "Chemistry is a noble and a fun profession," said Coleman. "We must all be willing to make at least a small contribution to encourage and motivate the next generation of chemists." Stuart A. Borman
