The Association for Laboratory Automation (ALA) has launched the 2009 ALA Spotlight Series of educational workshops.
The organisation has collaborated with Amgen, Pfizer, Pioneer Hi-Bred and Syngenta Seeds for the events, which will be held at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and the University of Minnesota.
On 7 October 2009 at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, the focus will be on agriculture and food.
Sessions will include 'Taking Research and Development to the Next Level - An Overview of Pioneer's Automation Development' by Jason Cope, enabling technologies and engineered solutions manager at Pioneer Hi-Bred; and 'Creating New Varieties with Marker Assisted Breeding' by Etienne Kaszas, NAFTA genotyping manager at Syngenta Seeds.
On 19 October 2009 at the University of Minnesota, the focus will be on drug discovery and development.
Sessions will include 'Simcell - A High Throughput Solution for Mammalian Process Development' by Sriram Srinivasan, senior principal scientist at Pfizer; and 'Automated Work Flows for Small Molecule Synthesis and Purification at Amgen' by Peter Grandsard, executive director research at Amgen.
Both locations will provide a post-programme networking session where participants can informally interact with the scientists and career development specialists from the corporate partners.
The 2009 ALA Spotlight Series offers concentrated, scientific-based educational sessions that highlight how automation and technology can be put to work in the laboratory.
It is open to postdoctoral associates, graduate students, undergraduate students, academicians and government personnel, researchers, engineers, and business professionals who work in, or aspire to work in, drug discovery and development, clinical diagnostics, agriculture and food, forensics and security, energy generation and petrochemicals, and all other related disciplines.
The 2009 ALA Spotlight Series is presented with the support of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education and the University of Wisconsin College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
