Pittcon 2017 Highlights – A Show to Remember

Select Science
News / Editorial Article
27 Mar 2017

Discover why the Scientists’ Choice Awards were a highlight of this annual science event

From renowned and multi-award winning scientist Dr. Karl Deisseroth discussing Integrated Brainwide Structural and Functional Analysis to 10-year-old Isaac Hales giving his first poster presentation, there was something for everyone at this year’s Pittcon in Chicago, USA. Dr. Deisseroth gave the Wallace H. Coulter Lecture to kick off four dynamic days of talks, technical sessions, the Scientists’ Choice Awards and much more. Read on to catch up on the highlights from one of the world’s biggest science shows.

Recognizing the Best in the Business

In what was a highlight for many at the show, the winners of the 2017 Scientists’ Choice Awards for General Lab, Separations and Spectroscopy were announced on the Tuesday afternoon before an audience of hundreds. Among those recognised were world-renowned Orbitrap inventor Prof. Alexander Makarov who scooped the award for Article of the Year thanks to his fascinating insight into how the Hong Kong Jockey Club uses 24 state-of-the-art mass spectrometers to keep the sport of horseracing clean.

Other winners included anti-doping expert Prof. Dr Francisco Radler, while manufacturers recognized by scientists for helping to further scientific progress internationally included Bruker, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Agilent Technologies (click the names to see their post-award video interviews). Eppendorf proudly picked up not one, but two awards – for Best New General Lab Product and for Customer Service.

There was a particularly emotional acceptance speech by Philip Wyatt, of Wyatt Technology Corp., who spoke of his great pride at how his two sons Cliff and Geofrey had helped turn the family business into an award-winning operation on the global stage. He said: “Thank you SelectScience, this is a great shock for me but these wonderful sons of mine have done most of the hard work, I just come up with the product. My two sons have really taken my creation and made this into a spectacular company, because the real focus is our customers.”