SAMEP 2016 Course – Spectrophotometers

 

“Analytical UV-VIS Absorption Spectrophotometer Metrology”
Stranaska Analytical Metrology Education Program
Jerry D. Messman, PhD – Course Instructor
Dates and Venues TBA

Analytical Testing Laboratories! Save time and money by integrating your analytical instrument qualification (AIQ) and systems suitability testing (SST) tasks so that they are consistent with criteria established in analytical method validation (AMV). Avoid the hidden costs (and extra unplanned lab work) associated with indefensible UV/VIS data and unsubstantiated traceability claims.

Register today for this one-of-a-kind Stranaska Scientific short course which is designed especially for laboratory chemists, analysts, technicians, scientists, supervisors and managers who are responsible for ensuring laboratory data quality and integrity in UV/VIS absorption spectrophotometric testing and chemical analysis. This course can also benefit non-chemists and engineers as well as metrology, calibration, and instrument vendor service technicians who have responsibilities for the qualification of analytical UV/VIS absorption spectrophotometers and related spectrophotometric instrumentation. In addition, this course offers a unique learning opportunity for office staff and technical auditors of quality management systems and accreditation who are new to the emerging field of analytical spectrophotometric metrology. In this course, you will:

  • Learn how to do both resolution testing and wavelength testing using only ONE spectrophotometer reference material artifact!
  • Learn how to ensure that your spectrophotometric data will be credible, traceable and DEFENSIBLE for all UV/VIS methods!
  • Learn how to recognize flawed quality control processes in the laboratory that can lead to misleading data interpretation, adverse audit observations and out-of-tolerance events!
  • Learn what to include, and what NOT to include, in your calibration Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)!
  • Learn why you need to have a healthy skepticism for the scientific validity of instrument software validation routines!
  • Learn why there are different “metrological states” of spectrophotometer reference material artifacts (and how to identify them) so that only the appropriate ones are used in defensible procedures for qualification and other performance evaluation tests!
  • Learn when and how an accredited calibration service provider can put your UV/VIS measurement results at risk!
  • Learn the important difference between calibration and verification in the recertification process for spectrophotometer reference material artifacts (and why verification can jeopardize your laboratory credibility)!
  • Learn why measurement uncertainties for a new certified spectrophotometer reference material artifact should probably not be the same as those for its recertification!
  • Learn why it is critical to only use holmium oxide and potassium dichromate solutions, neutral-density glass and metal-on-quartz filters, and stray light and resolution test filters that have been calibrated to the appropriate “metrological state” for spectrophotometer performance evaluation tests!
  • Learn how to achieve successful outcomes and avoid laboratory risk by understanding and embracing metrological traceability!
  • Learn which scientific metrological questions to ask if you must out-source your spectrophotometer qualifications to external (non-laboratory) calibration service groups so that you select the most qualified one!
  • Learn how to evaluate the “metrological state” of the reference material artifacts used by external (non-laboratory) calibration service groups to help assess whether or not they use science-based procedures for the qualification of UV/VIS spectrophotometers!

Course Objective
The primary objective of this short course is to transfer meaningful instruction on how to successfully develop and manage an analytical spectrophotometer measurement assurance program that will allow you to avoid costly and time-consuming out-of-tolerance events in UV/VIS testing and chemical analysis. The course material represents a scientific paradigm which applies to UV/VIS spectrophotometers (both cuvette and microplate formats), absorbance detectors for liquid chromatography and dissolution flow systems, and photometric process analyzers. This qualification paradigm for UV/VIS spectrophotometers transcends, in part, to many other types of analytical laboratory instrumentation as well. All students are encouraged to bring their own company’s laboratory strategy for spectrophotometer qualification and system suitability testing as it relates to analytical method development and validation. Based on his expertise and experience of 25 years in analytical UV/VIS spectrophotometric metrology, including his tenure at NIST when he directed its analytical chemistry high-accuracy spectrophotometry program, Dr. Messman will provide an in-depth scientific critique of the strategy either as a class example or in private consultation if confidentiality is preferred.

Registration Fees

$495.00 USD [Advanced Registration]
$595.00 USD [Regular Registration]

The registration fee includes certificate of attendance, course lecture materials, lunch and refreshment breaks. As part of your registration for certain courses, a limited number of time slots for private consultation with Dr. Messman will also be available before and after the short course. Preferences in filling the limited time slots will be determined by the order that registrations are received and confirmed.

Submit an e-mail to [email protected] to request more information about this Stranaska Scientific Short Course or to make suggestions for possible venues and dates.

As a worldwide leader in analytical metrology, Stranaska Scientific develops and promotes rigorous science-based paradigms for analytical measurement processes used in chemical analysis and testing. Through its spectrophotometric laboratory calibration and educational outreach programs, Stranaska Scientific helps bridge the metrological gap between analytical science and regulatory compliance in applied UV/VIS laboratory testing and chemical analysis. The magnitude of this gap, which appears to be widening on a global scale, correlates with the level of risk that a laboratory may incur when facing the adversity of an out-of-tolerance event for a UV/VIS spectrophotometric calibration. The advantage of narrowing the “metrological gap” is that the UV/VIS measurement test results will have greater scientific integrity, validity and defensibility if challenged by auditors or other quality assurance investigators.

The short course will emphasize all science-based aspects that can impact the scientific credibility and defensibilty of a company’s approach to the qualification of analytical UV/VIS absorption spectrophotometers with respect to regulatory compliance. Course attendees will have a unique opportunity to acquire a basic understanding and scientific strategy to underscore compliance with meaningful analytical science. Selected course topics include:

  • Measurement scope of spectrophotometer qualification (instrumental parameters, wavelength and photometric scales)
  • Metrological pathways, timelines and transparency to allow verification
  • Measurement uncertainty and budgets
  • Transparency and interpretation of commercial CRM certificates and reports
  • Metrological significance of “as-received” data and out-of-tolerance (OOT) measurements in recertifications
  • Recommended calibration intervals for reference material artifacts
  • Evaluation of selected qualification strategies

Although the qualification of UV-VIS spectrophotometers is required for regulatory compliance, little guidance is provided on how to actually accomplish this in an analytical science-based manner from a metrological perspective so that the process can withstand scientific scrutiny and eliminate laboratory calibration risk. Stranaska’s short course on “Analytical UV-VIS Absorption Spectrophotometer Metrology” is a unique educational opportunity where you can learn in person from company experts on how to recognize the analytical science that underscores the scientific credibility and defensibility of spectrophotometer qualification approaches and reference material artifacts.

 With the myriad of UV-VIS spectrophotometric methods of analysis, it is widely recognized that the criticality of a given analytical method can differ within a single laboratory or among different analytical laboratories, and that the “metrological quality” of the spectrophotometer qualification process can vary in accordance with the criticality of the method. In realization of this, laboratory management and supervisors must designate, and also be able to defend in terms of scientific rationale, the appropriate “metrological quality” to meet its specific need for spectrophotometer qualification and quality measurement assurance so that the spectrophotometer can be demonstrated to be fit for its intended purpose. For this reason, it becomes intuitively obvious that the metrological qualification of an analytical UV-VIS spectrophotometer cannot be a single “black box” approach where “one procedure fits all” but instead must be tailored to meet the specific testing purpose of the spectrophotometer.

This short course provides a unique learning opportunity to acquire scientific training and exposure to analytical spectrophotometric metrology, one of the three key requisites that characterize the overall “metrological quality” and scientific credibility of the qualification process for testing UV-VIS absorption spectrophotometers. The course content emphasizes the metrological rigor and scientific defensibility of the testing procedures, and also the “metrological state” of the calibration reference material artifacts used in the testing procedure. Reports of calibration from different spectrophotometric calibration supplies, including ones that are even accredited, will be critically compared to illustrate degrees of transparency (or lack thereof) and misleading claims of metrological traceability.