The LabAnalyse event 2019, in Congrescentrum 1931 in 's-Hertogenbosch, again featured an extensive knowledge exchange in the form of lectures and a trade fair square. The visitor got a look behind the scenes at other labs and provided inspiration and new ideas for lab analyses.
By: Dimitri Reijerman
LabAnalyse 2019 was opened by David Santillo. He has been a senior scientist at Greenpeace Research Laboratories, based at the University of Exeter, since 1994. He talked about research into microplastics, something that FHI asked him to do. spoke about earlier. Now Santillo is researching the effects of microplastics on animal health. FT-IR is the technique used.
Visitors to LabAnalyse raised numerous questions for Santillo. What was the impact of microplastics on plankton and other marine life? How do you determine where to take samples? And how long does it take for different types of plastics to decompose?
After a number of elevator pitches from suppliers, the plenary seminar program started. Prof. dr. Han Gardeniers from the University of Twente and the MESA+ Institute talked about the implementation of microfluidic elements and concepts in common laboratory techniques. The lecture by Henk-Jan van Manen, Nouryon, was about PAT (Process Analytical Technology). This process technology applies machine learning, among other things.
Olive oil and fingerprints
Olive oil is a lucrative product, with for example lower quality oil being secretly sold as extra virgin. Prof. dr. Joeri Vercammen, University of Ghent, explained how SIFT-MS can be applied to classify oils and prevent counterfeiting. Another lucrative product is cannabis. Bart Jansen of Brightlabs gave a talk on how to analyze medical cannabis, CBD oils and other cannabis products with a wide range of analysis methods.
At the Netherlands Forensic Institute, research is being done on fingerprints. Marcel de Puit explained how chemical analytical methods can be used to find more information about the donor in a fingerprint. He explained how fingerprints can indicate, among other things, that a person has used a condom or has consumed cocaine.
Prof. dr. Peter Schoenmakers and Mimi den Uijl jointly gave a lecture on various research projects they are conducting. According to them, students can form the link between academia and industry. FHI spoke to this duo earlier, who delivered an energetic presentation to the audience.
Movement scientist Rick Cost, Coordinator Physical Training Feyenoord, concluded the lecture program. Cost is busy day in day out collecting data from the Feyenoord players from the first team. According to him, motivation is the key word to let footballers perform at a high level at a continuous level. Sometimes that requires a different training discipline: “Train the brain”, he stated. It can also help to get a footballer out of his comfort zone.
Finally, the LabAnalyse visitors went to the trade fair floor for drinks. The broadly oriented lecture program had provided enough material for discussion.
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