The 6th Asia-Pacific Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry—a celebration of atomic spectrometry

The 6^th Asia-Pacific Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry (2015APWC) was successfully held from May 19^th to 22^rd in Xiamen, China. The conference was hosted by Xiamen University and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and organized by the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Xiamen University and the Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis & Instrumentation. More than 330 atomic spectrometry experts and scholars from 16 countries and regions, including China, Japan, Korea, India, United States of America, Germany, United Kingdom, and Belgium, attended this conference.

The opening ceremony of the conference was chaired by the Conference Chairman Professor Wei Hang of Xiamen University. Professor Yunbao Jiang, Dean of the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Xiamen University, and Professor Benli Huang, Honorary Chairman of 2015APWC, made the welcoming remarks. Professor Ramon Barnes, the founder of the Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry, introduced previous Winter Conferences on Plasma Spectrochemistry to the attendees and congratulated Professor Benli Huang on his 90^th birthday. Professor Gary Hieftje from Indiana University delivered the conference Plenary Lecture “Is ICP-Atomic Emission Spectrometry as good as it can be?”, and Professor Guibin Jiang from the Chinese Academy of Eco-Environment Center gave the Plenary Lecture ”Size characterization and Isotope Fractionation of silver nanoparticles”.

Professor Gary Hieftje and Professor Guibin Jiang

During the conference, more than 50 well-known scholars gave wonderful lectures, including: Dr Richard Russo from Berkeley Lawrence National Laboratory in the US, Professor Huwei Liu from Peking University in China, Professor Naoki Furuta from Chuo University in Japan, Professor Jianhua Wang from Northeastern University in China, Professor Heung Bin Lim from Dankook University in Korea, Professor Xiandeng Hou from Sichuan University in China. Extensive academic and technical exchanges on research progress took place in a variety of fields, including plasma spectral/mass spectral analysis, analytical instrumentation, elemental speciation analysis, environmental analysis, food and drug analysis, laser-induced plasma spectrochemistry, and applications of plasma spectrochemistry. In the conference, many analytical instrument manufacturers, including PerkinElmer, Agilent, SHIMAZU, Thermo Fisher, SPECTRO, Nu Instrument, Analytik Jena, exhibited their relevant instruments and technical application data. Conferees from 110 universities, institutes, and companies presented 55 lectures and 149 posters. These presentations have generated great exchanges of research ideals and experiences, and promoted inter-country and inter-disciplinary collaborations.

In this conference, Professor Zhifang Chai was awarded the ‘Life Achievement Award for Atomic Spectrometry in China’ for his outstanding contribution in atomic analysis and characterization. Professor Chai has dedicated his research to the development of nuclear technology and nuclear analysis methodology, and applied his work to cross-disciplinary subjects. He has made breakthroughs in many areas, such as nuclear element analysis and characterization, neutron activation analysis, metallomics, and environmental toxicology. In order to encourage graduate students to attend the conference and share their latest research work, the 10 best posters were selected and given awards. The well-organized conference was highly appreciated by the attendees and sponsors, which pushes forward spectral research and applications and promotes the development of science and technology in atomic spectrometry.

Professor Zhifang Chai (center) received his award from Professor Benli Huang (left, Honorary Chairman of 2015APWC) and Professor Ramon Barnes (right, founder of the Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry).

JAAS celebrated its 30th Anniversary after the closing ceremony on May 22nd. In the Event, Deputy Editor Rebecca Brodie recalled the initiation of JAAS, its development history, and stated its current status. With the mutual support of atomic spectrometrists and JAAS, the journal is ranked as the top journal in the atomic spectrometry field in general. Professor Gary Hieftje made a speech representing the Editorial Committee and Advisory Committee of JAAS. He thanked all the JAAS contributors and readers for their support and hoped for this support to continue. Members of the JAAS Editorial Committee and Advisory Committee, Dmitry Bandura, Ramon Barnes, Carsten Engelhard, Naoki Furuta, Heidi Goenaga-Infante, Wei Hang, Xiandeng Hou, Zhaochu Hu, Yi Lv, Jorge Pisonero, Steven Ray, Martín Resano, Rick Russo, and Lu Yang, together with RSC Chinese Publisher Guanqun Song and other conferees attended the event celebrating the 30th Anniversary.

At the closing ceremony, Professor Naoki Furuta announced that the 7th Asia-Pacific Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry will be organized by Professor Takafumi Hirata of Kyoto University in Japan, and will be held in the autumn of 2017 in a west coast city of Japan.

 

Wei Hang

Conference Chairman of 2015APWC

Xiamen University

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