Pittcon receives lectureship award

Pittsburgh, PA – The Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (Pittcon) and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation have signed an agreement under which the Conference will receive an endowment to undertake educational training and development in laboratory sciences with special emphasis in resource limited countries worldwide.

Pittcon has renamed its preeminent event, the plenary lecture, in honor of Wallace H. Coulter. The Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship Award recognizes an outstanding individual who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to and made important contributions that have had a significant impact on education, practice and/or research in laboratory science.

Wallace H. Coulter, the benefactor of the Foundation, invented the Coulter Principle, an electronic method of counting and classifying microscopic particles suspended in fluid. This principle was incorporated by Mr. Coulter in an apparatus to count and classify blood cells, a process that was previously done manually.

Former Pittcon President, Jon Peace stated, “We were very honored to be the recipient of this grant. Mr. Coulter’s passions were the application of engineering principles to scientific research and embracing the diversity of world cultures which are consistent with our mission and the international impact of the Conference. He added, “We strongly believe that this [grant] will go a long way to perpetuate quality programming at Pittcon.”