A £100,000 analytical chemistry project established by Crawford Scientific and the West of Scotland Knowledge Transfer Partnership Centre will make life easier for laboratories across Britain.
Crawford Scientific, which supplies analytical laboratory equipment and training to the pharmaceutical industry, has launched what is said to be the world's first comprehensive e-learning programme for lab scientists.
The equipment supplied by Crawford Scientific is used by lab technicians to check the safety of common drug products, like painkillers, seen on the shelves of chemist's shops.
The interactive e-learning 'Electronic Analytical Reference Library' (Earl) programme has even been given an official stamp of approval by the Royal Society of Chemistry, thanks to work by postgraduate student Jorge Omar Gil Posada.
Posada, a graduate in chemical engineering from the University of Strathclyde, was brought together with Tony Taylor from Crawford Scientific and Professor Thomas Connolly from the School of Computing at Paisley University, by the West of Scotland Knowledge Transfer Partnership Centre.
The centre takes on business problems, and finds the right academic and graduate to solve them.
Training and technical manager Tony Taylor explains: "The chromatography testing products that we sell are used to make sure that the drugs on shop shelves contain the substances they are meant to, in the right quantities.
"Learning how to use laboratory equipment can be a very complex process, and we usually send a qualified instructor out to each firm to help laboratory staff operate equipment and make sure results are correct.
"However, we found that people were calling us regularly for advice and support with their problems and as such we decided to develop an online learning tool so that they could learn how to use products more effectively.
"This allows users to test themselves on a step-by-step basis and then print off a certificate proving that they have the skills to ensure their drug products are safe to take".
Professor Connolly added: "The associate chosen for this project, Jorge Omar Gil Posada, had a combined knowledge of chemistry and computing at a high level.
"As well as being able to spell out complicated material in a logical, easy-to-understand way he had to be able to ensure that all data was accurate from a scientific perspective".
Posada said: "I was really pleased to be chosen as part of this Knowledge Transfer Partnership.
"It was a challenge applying my scientific knowledge to the creation of an e-learning programme.
"I had to ensure that my thought processes on using the lab equipment translated into obvious steps for everyone else to follow."
