Lab Manager | Run Your Lab Like a Business

Cover Story |  Volume 7 - Issue 2  |  March 2012

Is the Rollercoaster Ride Over?

Fourth annual Investment Confidence Report reveals a slightly positive outlook for 2012

Sections

Editor's Buzz

Modest Optimism

“The year 2011 was tumultuous for the laboratory industry. In comparison, the outlook for 2012 looks only slightly positive. Laboratory decision makers generally expect their funding conditions either to remain the same or to minimally improve.”

Surveys

Is the Roller Coaster Ride Over?

The laboratory industry enjoyed several years of robust growth from the late 1990s until 2003. Record research and development (R&D) investments by the biopharmaceutical industry, in combination with the doubling of the U.S. National Institutes budget, allowed for continual double-digit growth rates.

Are You in the Market for a Thermal Analyzer?

Pharmaceutical and polymer industries are increasingly interested in both TGA and DSC. Drug companies use these techniques to test for drug stability and crystalline state (or lack thereof).

March 2012 HPLC System Product Survey Results

Manufacturers of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) systems continue to innovate, while simultaneously providing upgrade paths for older instruments.

Are You in the Market for a Flow Cytometer?

Flow cytometry is a powerful technology that allows researchers and clinicians to perform complex cellular analysis quickly and efficiently by analyzing several parameters simultaneously.

2012 Lab Oven Product Survey

Most laboratory workers view ovens almost as utilities, using them principally for drying glassware and heat-resistant equipment, regenerating desiccants and catalysts, gently heating samples, and curing or preparing materials and composites.

Leadership and Staffing

Science Matters: Are You Helping or Hurting Employee Morale?

Last year I wrote a column about how “soft skills” are required to succeed in virtually every business today. Even in the sciences, a career path that has traditionally allowed insular personalities to thrive, soft skills are more important than ever.

Lab Manager Academy: Big Motivation

Are you motivated? Is everyone motivated? Yes or no? Take a look around your lab.

Computing and Automation

We Need Backup!

For many of us, our introduction to laboratory automation revolves around the formerly popular Technicon SMA (Sequential Multiple Analyzer, circa 1969) and the SMAC (SMA + C), when a computer interface was added to the platform in 1974.

Laboratory Technology

Planned Downtime

Routine maintenance and proper training can extend the life of any piece of laboratory equipment. Unfortunately, even with proper maintenance, and sometimes resulting from lack of maintenance, large equipment can break down—sometimes at the worst possible time.

HPLC-Fluorescence Detection

HPLC-Fluorescence Detection

HPLC-fluorescence detection is now designated as the official analysis method for many components across various industries

Ask the Expert

Ask The Expert: Trends in Laboratory QA/QC

Michael Noble, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia and chair of the Program Office for Laboratory Quality Management, emphasizes that while increased awareness, education and standardization of information and protocols have helped improve laboratory quality, people still need to be reminded that the pursuit of quality is a commitment that needs constant time, effort and money. 

Lab Health and Safety

Jumping Back Gas!

Jumping Back Gas!

This column will focus on ethylene oxide, a frequently used and potentially dangerous sterilizing agent. Also known as EtO or EO, it is highly compatible with today’s polymer-based single-use medical devices, procedure kits, surgical trays, etc.

Lab Health and Safety Tips

Require All Staff Members to Read Appropriate Safety Manuals, Sign a Rules Agreement and Keep Statements on File

Following this procedure does several things. It forces you to decide what the rules and policies are going to be, shows everyone that you are concerned about health and safety, and keeps a permanent record of your safety standards.

Product Focus

Product Focus: Live Cell Imaging

Live cell imaging is made possible by a confluence of advances in imaging, computing, microscopy, and reagent technologies, connected by a deeper understanding and appreciation for cellular processes.

Product Focus: Laboratory Filtration

As a mature market, filtration moves forward incrementally through improvements in filter media and housings.

Product Focus: Flow Cytometry

Although flow cytometry first appeared (as fluorescence-assisted cell sorting) in the late 1970s, the last three years have seen a surge of innovation in instrumentation and applications.

Product Focus: Glove Boxes

Glove boxes are specialty enclosures that allow tight control over experimental conditions. Sizes range from less than five to several hundred cubic feet.

Lab Shakers: Established Technology with Continuous Design Innovation

The wide variety of lab-shaker designs on the market reflects the increasing diversity of scientific experimentation. Labs now use a greater range of sample sizes than ever before, from liters to microliters.

Lab Product

The Right Choice for Microplate Readers

Microplate readers are used to discern either physical, chemical, or biological events in microtiter plates and are common in academic organizations and the biotech, pharmaceutical, and drug discovery industries, as well as in research.

March 2012 (Pittcon 2012) Technology News

The latest equipment, instruments and systems being introduced at this year’s Pittcon in Orlando, Florida.

Research-Specific Labs

Perspective On: A Contract Research Lab

When developing new chemical entities, pharmaceutical and biotech companies often employ the help of contract research organizations (CRO).

Products in Action

Adam Equipment’s Density Kit a Winner for Quality Control in Manufacturing and Production

Most manufacturers know that accurately determining the density of raw materials is a critical part of the production process. Why is it so important?

Energy Efficient Engineered Cabinets from The Baker Company

For 60 years The Baker Company has been at the forefront of engineering, testing and production of reliable laboratory contamination control equipment. Our cabinets and hoods are crafted with precision for your unique situation.

BioTek Continues to Set the Standard in Microplate Washing with the New 405™ Touch

For nearly 30 years, BioTek has led the market in developing microplate washing technologies, and is well recognized for the industry standard ELx405™ Microplate Washer.

PURELAB flex- Innovating Water Purity

ELGA’s new innovative Type I ultrapure water purification system ensures accurate consistent results. The PURELAB flex 3 & 4 are the latest additions to the award winning PURELAB flex range of systems.

Innova ® Biological Shakers – the Gold Standard for Research

Innova ® Biological Shakers – the Gold Standard for Research

New Brunswick Scientific’s world renowned laboratory shakers are known for dependable operation and innovative design. New Brunswick offers the widest selection of biological shakers in the industry, with more than 30 models available to suit your exact needs.

Captair® Flex™ Ductless Mobile Fume Hoods with Modular Filtration Column

From the people who brought you the energy saving GreenFumeHood®, ERLAB, the one and only inventor of the ductless filtering fume hood and worldwide leader since 1968 innovates once again with the low cost Captair® Flex™ Technology.

It's Your Chemistry…Make it Personal!

Designed to meet the growing need for personalized solutions, Gilson’s PLC 2020 Personal Purification System is a fully-functioning purification system in a compact footprint intended to support an individual researcher or a small group of chemists.

i.C3™ from Helmer

The next generation of i.Series® monitoring features the i.C3 User Interface which offers constant temperature monitoring and control on all i.Series refrigerators and Freezers.

The Next Generation of Vacuum Pump Systems; Clean, Quiet and Energy Efficient

The Next Generation of Vacuum Pump Systems; Clean, Quiet and Energy Efficient

Vacuum pumps systems no longer have to be loud, noisy, filled with oil that leaks and smokes, or complicated to use.

Labconco’s NEW RapidVap® Vertex Dry Evaporator uses a dry heat block to quickly evaporate samples under nitrogen stream.

Combinatorial chemistry can be traced back to the 1960’s, but didn’t gain popularity until 1990 when pharmaceutical companies started compounding large amounts of potential new drugs into libraries. Now, combinatorial chemistry has moved

XPert® Nano™ Enclosures protect users during nanoparticle manipulation and dry powder chemical handling

XPert Nano Enclosures provide user protection by keeping hazardous powders and particulates contained during procedures such as nanoparticle manipulation and dry powder chemical handling.

Know why Metrohm Titrators are Lab Favorites?

Because they give you everything you want, and do everything you need.

Laboratory Refrigerators and Freezers

Laboratory Refrigerators and Freezers

Nor-Lake® Scientific Select™ laboratory Refrigerators and Freezers are designed for heavy-duty long term cold storage for a wide range of demanding laboratory, scientific, pharmacy and life science applications.

Setting the Standard for Demanding Environments

NuAire’s Polypropylene NU-162 and NU-164 By-Pass Fume Hoods are manufactured using ½ inch stressrelieved, fully seam-welded, white 100% Polypropylene.

Miniature Spectrometers and Accessories from Ocean Optics

Ocean Optics, inventors of the world’s first miniature spectrometer, introduces the latest additions to its portfolio of miniature photonics products.

Parker Balston Hydrogen Generators

Parker Balston Gas Generators eliminate the need for expensive, dangerous, high pressure cylinders of hydrogen, helium, and nitrogen in the laboratory. It is no longer necessary to interrupt important analyses to change cylinders.

Proton OnSite Nitrogen Generation Systems

On-site gas generation specialist, Proton OnSite, now offers a full laboratory line of hydrogen, nitrogen and zero air generators. Its line of nitrogen generators from the NiGen™ Micro with an output capacity of 500cc/minute to the NiGen LCMS 100 that can produce as much as 100L/minute offers carrier gas solutions for laboratories of any size.

FreezerPro Features and Benefits

Today’s researchers demand precision and efficiency in their laboratories. Accounting for hundreds, thousands and even millions of samples is a task that requires a software system that will manage the volume while handling the complexities of your inventory intuitively.

Consumer Safety Compliance Standards

Your analysis is only as good as the standard you are running. SPEX CertiPrep was founded in 1954 to provide superior Certified Reference Materials for spectroscopy and chromatography.

Introducing the new Thermo Scientific NanoDrop Lite Spectrophotometer

A compact, personal UV-Vis microvolume spectrophotometer, the new Nano- Drop™ Lite delivers where it counts: rapid, accurate and reproducible microvolume measurements without the need for dilutions.

Unity Lab Services provides a single source for integrated lab service

Unity Lab Services provides a single source for integrated lab service, support and supply management. Our customized service offerings and world-class service experts have the flexibility and experience to uniquely address your business needs.

Consolidation and Cost Savings using new Quality Control Solutions targeted for new Integrated Instrument Systems

With the introduction of the new Thermo Scientific MAS Omni quality control products, clinical laboratories can streamline and reduce daily QC testing requirements.

Contamination Prevention without Compromise

Protect your valuable samples with Thermo Scientific 100% pure copper CO2 incubators. The Thermo Scientific 100% pure copper CO2 incubators allow you to culture precious samples, without worry.

THE FUTURE OF RACE WAY …

STARLINE Plug-In Raceway, has revolutionized the power distribution industry! Universal Electric Corporation created STARLINE Plug-In Raceway to meet the ever-changing power distribution and datacom needs of research, pharmaceutical, university, hospital and data labs.

CytoOne® Cell Culture Performance Ware

Your cells deserve the best. Consistent growth surfaces with certified testing. Premium grade, optically clear polystyrene. ISO 9001 production and manufacturing, and rigorous quality control. 

How it Works

How it Works: A Crevice-Free Display and Keyboard Mounting System

As computer interfaces become more prevalent in the healthcare industry, the deficiencies of traditional office mounting products are becoming more of a concern.

How a High-Capacity, Ultra-Low Temp Freezer with Robotic Handling Abilities Works

Accurately maintaining large inventories is a time-consuming process. It becomes even more challenging when dealing with thousands of identical-looking little vials, constantly going in and out of different freezers shared among multiple collaborators.

How it Works: A Rapid Test System for Food & Beverage Microbiology

The detection of pathogenic or spoiling microorganisms has always been an important topic in the food and beverage industry.