Winners of the 2019 Scientists' Choice Awards for General Lab, Separations and Spectroscopy Announced at Pittcon

Scientists around the world have named their top new technologies in the fields of general lab, separations and spectroscopy. Winners and nominees of the annual Scientists’ Choice Awards were celebrated during a glitzy SelectScience^® party at the Pittcon 2019 International Conference and Expo in Philadelphia, USA. Read on to find out who walked away with the coveted awards this year and for other highlights from this exciting event, which also celebrated game-changing scientific innovation and communications excellence.

See our Pittcon 2019 feature page for video interviews, technology news and more>>

Best New General Laboratory Product of 2018

The coveted title of Best New General Laboratory Product of 2018 went to the ASSIST PLUS Pipetting Robot by INTEGRA Biosciences, as nominated and voted for by scientists worldwide.

Your 7 General Lab runners-up
• ViscoQC 100 rotational viscometer, from Anton Paar
• Centrifuge 5910 R, from Eppendorf
• TRACKMAN^® Connected, from Gilson, Inc.
• T 25 easy clean digital disperser, from IKA Works, Inc.
• MILLI-Q^® IQ 7003/7005 Ultrapure and Pure Lab Water Purification System, from MilliporeSigma, a business of Merck KGaA Darmstadt Germany
• OT-2 pipetting robot, from Opentrons
• VIP ECO Natural Refrigerant -86°C Freezer, from PHCbi

Best New Separations Product of 2018

SelectScience Editor-in-Chief Kerry Parker announced that the Best New Separations Product of 2018 had been awarded to the Thermo Scientific™ Vanquish™ Duo UHPLC Systems by Thermo Fisher Scientific, as chosen by scientists across the globe.

Your 3 Separations runners-up 
• Centri^®, from Markes International Ltd
• bioZen HPLC/UHPLC columns, from Phenomenex
• YMC-SEC MAB size exclusion chromatography columns, from YMC Europe

Best New Spectroscopy Product of 2018

The Best New Spectroscopy Product of 2018, as decided by scientists around the world who have been nominating and voting for their favorites over the past few weeks and months, was the alpha300 Ri Inverted Raman Microscope by WITec GmbH.

Your 8 Spectroscopy runners-up
• Cary 3500 UV-Vis system, from Agilent Technologies
• QTRam^® portable Raman system, from B&W Tek, Inc.
• INVENIO™ fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) research spectrometer, from Bruker Optik
• 4000 MiD miniaturized chip-based single quadrupole mass spectrometer, from Knauer
• QSight^® 400 Series Triple Quad Mass Spectrometer, from PerkinElmer, Inc.
• Q-TOF LCMS-9030, from Shimadzu Scientific Instruments Inc
• Thermo Scientific™ Orbitrap ID-X™ Tribrid™ Mass Spectrometer, from Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Xevo TQ-GC Mass Spectrometry System, from Waters Corporation

Analytical Science Video of the Year 

In the prestigious Analytical Science Video of the Year category, the winning production features Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, Dr. Richard Henderson, discussing the growing importance of cryo-electron microscopy for science. Watch the winning video >>

Analytical Science Article of the Year

The Scientists' Choice Award for Analytical Science Article of the Year went to ‘How I Saved our NMR from Hurricane María Devastation'. Instrumentation specialist at the University of Puerto Rico, Dr. Melvin De Jesus Flores, tells the compelling story of how he managed to keep his lab’s prized Bruker NMR running in the wake of one of the most destructive hurricane seasons on record— Hurricane María.

De Jesus Flores said: “The year 2018 was a year of recovery and many professional and personal challenges but surrendering was never an option in my mind.
“This award is very important and significant for me because it motivates me to continue serving my university by giving all my dedication for science and my chemistry department. This award makes me feel satisfied with my work, which I thought at first would not be so significant. Hurricane Maria not only brought devastation and material and human losses, it also brought the attention of the scientific community, that in a gigantic way, has supported us in the recovery process.
“Moreover, knowing that we have the support of companies such as Bruker has been an unparalleled experience. It’s proof that the hurricane turned the eyes of the scientific community to the island of Puerto Rico.”

Dr. De Jesus Flores thanked Emily Adam, from SelectScience, who conducted the interview; Clemens Anklin, from Bruker Biospin, who provided support during the difficulties caused by the hurricane and encouraged him to share his story; and the C&EN team who also covered the university’s challenges for ACS.

Analytical Science Webinar of the Year

SelectScience revealed 'Pharmacopeial Modernization: How Will Your Chromatography Workflow Benefit? as webinar of the year. Produced in association with Waters, the hugely popular online event was presented Dr. Leonel Santos and Dr. Horacio Pappa, from the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), and provided an overview of its pharmacopeial harmonization and modernization efforts. It is still available to view on demand.

Analytical Science Email of the Year

It was the NuAire ‘Working Safely in Your Lab: 10 Tips Infographic’ email which was named Analytical Science Email of the Year. You can see the award-winning email here.

Reviewers’ Choice Award™ – Analytical Company of the Year 

The Reviewers' Choice Award for Analytical Science Company of the Year, which is based on reviews published on the SelectScience website, went to Restek.

Reviewers’ Choice Awards™ – Customer Service of the Year

SelectScience announced that Eppendorf had once again won Reviewers’ Choice Customer Service of the Year — making it a fantastic hat-trick of triumphs for Eppendorf in this category.

See our Pittcon 2019 feature page for video interviews, technology news and more>>