Beginning with our cover story, where we examine some of the management adjustments required to attract and retain early-career millennials. The good news is their technology savviness. “Steps to understand and accommodate the technology- related needs of younger workers could result in better outcomes and benefit the lab enterprise overall,” believes Rich Durand, director, material and characterization science at Sun Chemical Corporation. The challenge is accommodating their desire for flexible work arrangements, recognizing the value they place on an organization’s social and environmental commitments, and creating a healthier, more holistic work environment.

These tech-fearless millennials are also expected to embrace the trend toward digital experiments. “With the new generation coming out of school, they like to have modernized modeling and simulation in the labs—they don’t want to only have instrumentation connected to a PC. They want a new world. I think that will increase the value and the interest of new generations to be part of that community,” says Dassault Systèmes CEO Bernard Charlès in “A New World of Experimentation” on page 36.

Another change for lab managers is the greater impact of global regulations as they relate to cross-nation concerns, such as food safety. In our “Insights on Food and Beverage Screening” (page 56), author Mike May tells us, “It takes different kinds of technology to make the right analyses and to do it fast enough to meet the requirements of governments around the world.”

Echoing that message is our Leadership & Staffing article, “High Standards” (page 26),” in which Jason Poore, client development coordinator at the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation says, “As more regulators lean on accreditation as a means of establishing competency, more and more organizations will seek it, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. It is very likely an area that will see continued growth, especially as accreditation becomes more widely mandated and accepted in the global marketplace and by government entities.”

So whether it be managing millennials or considering your laboratory practices within a global context, both may require a bit of retooling on your part.

One more change. In this issue we introduce a new Industry Insights section to the magazine, wherein we address instrumentation challenges facing the clinical, drug discovery, environmental, food science, forensics, and life science markets. Relevant content related to these same markets can also be found on our website by clicking “Industries” in the navigation bar.

Lastly, don’t forget to check out our Pittcon Technology News section on page 80 for a peek at what will be showcased in Atlanta in March.

Here’s to a promising 2016.

Best,

Pamela Ahlberg
Editor-in-Chief

Correction: On page 66 of the November issue, the Mettler Toledo Product Spotlight contained an error. Where we wrote, “The UV5Nano only requires 1 mL of sample,” the correct quantity was 1uL of sample. We apologize for the error.