What is the Pittcon Conference?

The Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, (or Pittcon), is the largest annual conference, dealing with laboratory sciences. Pittcon is a not-for-profit educational corporation, based in Pennsylvania, and is sponsored by the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh and the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh.

Early History

Pittcon was founded in 1950, when it began as a small technical conference and exposition, held in a hotel in Pittsburgh. After 18 years, the conference moved from Pittsburgh to Cleveland, where it stayed until it changed venues to Atlantic City. Nowadays the Pittcon Conference moves between five major destinations, New Orleans, Atlanta, Chicago, Orlando and Philadelphia. It starts on Sunday and finishes on Thursday and is held usually during the first or second week of March. It has a staff of 11 and a range of volunteers.

What is their mission?

Pittcon aim to provide sponsorship and help support scientific educational and charitable programmes. It is dedicated to furthering science education in the Western Pennsylvania region.

Pittcon manage to raise and donate more than a million dollars a year, which all go towards financing grants for science equipment, research, scholarships and internships.

The Pittcon Conference

The conference brings together individuals who have made outstanding contributions within various scientific fields in Analytical Chemistry. Each year, Pittcon presents prestigious awards to these individuals. It has now become the most attended annual conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy in the world. Pittcon’s audience is anyone who works in laboratory sciences. This includes the workers responsible for testing, analysing and quantifying, and those who manager these workers.

The organisation has evolved past its earlier origins in analytical chemistry and spectroscopy, and now encompasses a diverse range of sciences. These include food safety, bioterrorism, environmental, life sciences, pharmaceutical discovery and QA, and others.

This year’s Pittcon Conference

Taking place in New Orleans, the 66th Pittcon Conference will be held on the 8th - 12th March 2015, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Pittcon 2015 will showcase the latest scientific innovations from laboratory equipment, to technology and supplies. It is estimated that the conference will draw interested parties from over 90 countries, from all parts of the industry, including academia and government.

Over 16,000 people are expected at the conference this year, who will no doubt want to see the latest cutting-edge technology from over 900 exhibitions. The conference will feature over 2000 presentations. Esteemed speakers such as Dr Naomi Halas, a Professor at Rice University and Kevin P. Menard, an expert on thermal analysis will provide lectures. There will also be short courses and sessions where interested parties can network and swap ideas with scientists from around the world.

Looking for more information?

If you’d like to learn more about the conference, read our indepth article: New Orleans will play host to the 66th Pittcon, which will be held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, on 8-12 March 2015.