Lab Manager | Run Your Lab Like a Business

Cover Story |  Volume 5 - Issue 3  |  April 2010

Rethinking Green

Luxury or survival strategy?

Sections

Laboratory Technology

Rethinking Green

While the green movement is receiving less attention now than it has in recent years, it was able to take root with regulators who have become less tolerant of practices found to harm the environment. Many lab managers believe that adjusting their processes now may be more economically efficient and less disruptive to their work than racing to meet regulatory deadlines in the future.

Sustainable Lab Operations

Leading research institutions share best practices to meet institutional climate commitments.

Energy Times Two

If your laboratory has its own dedicated power plant or is part of an industrial facility, you may be able to drastically reduce the amount of energy you purchase while reducing your labs carbon footprint.

Weighing Uncertainty

Weighing Uncertainty

The main question in selecting a balance is whether it will meet the measurement uncertainty budget for the process under investigation.

JM Science Coulometric Karl Fischer Titrator

Features six built-in calculation modes to accommodate solid, liquid and gas samples.

April 2010 Technology News

The latest equipment, instruments and system introductions to the laboratory market.

Leadership and Staffing

Work-Life Balance

What can managers do to prevent or reduce the impact of work-life imbalance on themselves and their staff? Answers include physical fitness, recreation, distraction from the job, involvement in charitable activities, and doing things that are not connected with work.

Science Matters: Being an Effective Team Member

As effective team memebers, scientists can help their organizations and laboratories continue to do the important research necessary to improve lives well into the future.

Lab Design and Furnishings

Greener Windows

Film-based, multicavity insulating glass offers superior insulating performance, reduces noise and increases occupant comfort more effectively than low-e glass alone.

Lab Construction & Renovation: A Manager's Point of View

When it comes to lab design, construction or renovation, there will be problems. Accept that, and be prepared to be flexible and cooperative in finding solutions that do not compromise safety, budget, scheduling and quality.

Product Focus

Product Focus: Mills and Grinders

Mills and grinders are used to prepare samples (of minerals, plants, food, drugs, pigments, and forensic materials, for example) through particle size reduction (comminution).

Product Focus: PCR Reagents

Product Focus: PCR Reagents

Today, PCR is used routinely in dozens of approved medical tests in diagnostic labs and physician offices, and by millions of scientists worldwide.

Product Focus: Laboratory Balances

Laboratory workers will immediately recognize the two basic types of balances: analytical balances and top-loaders.

Ask the Expert

How to Choose the Right PCR Reagents

Dr. Gregory Shipley, director of the Quantitative Genomics Core Laboratory at The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, discusses how he goes about evaluating and investing in new technologies and reagents.

Lab Health and Safety

Know Your Flow!

The basic design principles and proper operation of your chemical fume hood.

Lab Product

Evolution of Lab Glassware Washers

This article looks at the evolution of the laboratory glassware washer; a staple in most labs.

Business Management

Energy Retrofit

A laboratory energy retrofit process begins with an energy audit in which all aspects of a buildings energy usage are examined in order to identify opportunities for savings.

Research-Specific Labs

Perspective On: A Food Testing Lab

The role of food labs in the development of new flavours, textures and products.

How it Works

How it Works: Automatic Fume Hood Fire Suppression

Firetrace International, located in Scottsdale, Arizona, manufactures automatic fire detection and suppression systems.

How FTIR Contaminant Analysis Programs Work

The Contaminant Analysis Program compiles a list of common contaminants into one program.

How No-Ice Contact Biomedical Sample Preparation Works

BioCision's CoolRacks consist of arrays of receiver cavities for tubes rendered in a highly thermo-conductive material.

Purchasing Guides

Lab Manager Magazine's Independent Guide to Purchasing a Lab Balance

Choosing the right balance comes down to three main selection criteria outlined in the Independent Guide to Purchasing a Lab Balance.