Ion Chromatography edited by
Waters Symposium
Adrian Michael University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260
The 12th Annual James L. Waters Symposium at Pittcon: Ion Chromatography Adrian C. Michael Department of Chemistry and 12th Waters Symposium Coordinator, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260
The James L. Waters Symposium has been held at the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (Pittcon) annually since 1990. The Waters Symposium is unique, in that it explores the origins, development, and commercialization of scientific instrumentation of established and major significance. James Waters, founder of Waters Associates, Inc., arranged with the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh (SACP) to offer this annual symposium to ensure that the early history of this cooperative process be preserved, to stress the importance of contributions of workers with diverse backgrounds, objectives, and perspectives, and to recognize pioneers and leaders in the field of instrumentation. Benefits of the symposia include the creation of awareness of the ways in which significant new instruments emerge and how they pave new avenues of scientific investigation. The symposia also promote an interchange among the inventors, development engineers, marketing personnel, and entrepreneurs who play distinct and crucial roles in that emergence. Publication of the proceedings of the Waters Symposia is a high priority of the SACP. The proceedings of the first symposium, on gas chromatography, were published in LC.GC Magazine and those of the next four symposia (on atomic absorption spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry, and mass spectrometry) appeared in Analytical Chemistry. Proceedings of all the sub-
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sequent symposia have been published in the Journal of Chemical Education: the sixth, on high-performance liquid chromatography, appeared in the January 1997 issue (pages 37–48); the seventh, on ion selective electrodes, appeared in the February 1997 issue (pages 159–182); the eighth, on lasers in chemistry, was featured in the May 1998 issue (pages 555–570); the ninth, on immunoassay, appeared in the June 1999 issue (pages 767–792); the tenth, on atomic emission spectroscopy, appeared in the May 2000 issue (pages 573– 607); and the eleventh, on X-ray diffraction of powders and thin films was featured in the May 2001 issue (pages 601– 616). The subject of the twelfth annual Waters Symposium was ion chromatography, and the proceedings of that symposium are featured in this issue of the Journal. The first paper in the series is by Hamish Small and describes the very early steps in the invention of the technique and instrumentation that evolved into today’s version of ion chromatography. Barton Evans provides a detailed view of the critical role that the Dionex Corporation played in converting ion chromatography from a research curiosity to a finished, commercially successful product. Finally, Paul Haddad of the University of Tasmania describes a software package that simulates the retention process of ion chromatography, which reflects the advanced state of current understanding of these mechanisms.
Vol. 81 No. 9 September 2004
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Journal of Chemical Education
1277
