LAB Automation 99

LabAutomation 99 will be held again in San Diego California on January 30th through February 3rd at the Sheraton San Diego Harbor and Marina. Although the first LabAutomation conference began three years ago with a strong focus on clinical laboratory automation, it has since expanded its focus to include strong emphases on drug discovery and enabling technologies. This year we are projecting an attendance of over 2000 total participants, 87 exhibitors (see current listing on page 34) in 128 booths, 107 presented papers and 60 posters. After the initial Plenary session the oral presentation will be distributed among 4 to 5 parallel sessions.

The scientific program promises to be strong this year, with the Plenary Session opened by our annual Beckman Award Lecture given by Dr. J. Craig Venter. Dr. Venter has achieved international notoriety following his announcement that his company will undertake the sequencing of the entire human genome in 3 years. This will be a technological tour-de-force and a topic of great relevance to the laboratory automation community. Dennis Purcell, Hambrect & Quist, as Managing Director of Life Sciences Investment Banking with responsibility for H&Qs efforts in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical products industries will then present a financial prospective of the effect of this technology on the pharmaceutical industry. During his tenure, he has been directly involved with over fifty completed transactions and supervised over $6 billion of financing and advisory assignments in the health care industry.

Conference Sponsors

A&T Corporation

Abbott Laboratories

Aurora Biosciences

Bayer

Beckman Coulter

Becton-Dickinson

Chiron

CRS Robotics

Dade Behring

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Olympus

Ortho Clinical Diagnostics

Roche Diagnostics

Packard

Sysmex

Tecan

Zymark Corporation

January 30 to February 3, 1999 at the San Diego Sheraton Marina, San Diego, CA

The next Plenary Presentations will be given by Paula Fitzgerald (Merck) who will overview structure based design in practice for drug development. This presentation will touch on the entire process from the initial lead through combinatorial synthetic methods to develop large numbers of compounds, designing methods to improve leads and then complete the clinical process.

TOPIC	CHAIRS
Drug Discovery
High-Throughput Screening	Dennis France
	Steve Hamilton
Combinatorial Chemistry	Richard Houghten
	Michal Lebl
Compound Management	Houng-Yau Mei
Computer Applications
Internet	Ray Dessy
Software Advances	Mark Russo
	Gary Kramer
Informatics	Reinhold Schaefer
	Harvey Stern
Clinical Applications
Clinical Laboratory Automation	Robin Felder
	Masihide Sasaki
Point of Care	Bill Godolphin
Molecular Diagnostics	Ted Mifflin
Mass Spectrometry
Mass Spectrometry	Gary Siuzdak
	David Herold
Microfuildics
Microfluidics	Sheila DeWitt
	Anne Kopf-Sill
Analytical -Engineering
Analytical -Engineering	Steve Hamilton
Biotechnology
Biotechnology	Petar Stojandinovic
Standards
Clinical Standards	Rod Markin
Spectroscopic Standards	Gary Kramer
Detection Technologies
Detection Technologies	Tony Beugelsdijk
Materials Research
Materials Research	David Herold

For the latest information on LabAutomation'99, visit our conference web site at http://labautomation.org

January 30 to February 3, 1999 at the San Diego Sheraton Marina, San Diego, CA

Steven Goldby (Symyx Technologies) will discuss the use of combinatorial and parallel synthesis, high-thoughput screening and analysis in materials science applications. High value areas of investigation such as catalysis, polymers and electronic materials provide an opportunities to use these technologies to extend to use of the elements of the periodic table beyond the present bounds established by pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries.

The session will be closed by Professor Wofgang Ehrfeld (Institute fur Mikrotechnik Mainz, GmbH). He will present results of his group's work directed toward microreaction technology. This is a newly evolving discipline characterized by the miniaturization of a variety of devices for chemical process engineering.

Following the Plenary session, the remaining two and a half days of the conference will be filled with 4–5 daily parallel sessions (see the table on page 30) coveting Drug Discovery (combinatorial chemistry, high-throughput screening, compound management), Computer Applications (internet, informatics, software advances) Laboratory Medicine (clinical laboratory automation, point of care, molecular diagnostics), Mass Spectrometry, Microfluidics, Analytical -Engineering, Biotechnology, Standards (clinical standards, spectroscopic standards), Detection Technologies, and Materials Research. The diverse program is designed to supply the latest information in each registrant's particular field of interest while also providing the opportunity to explore some of the new ideas and concepts in emerging or parallel fields.

Conference at-a-Glance

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 1999
5:00 – 8:00pm	Registration
Saturday, January 30, 1999
7:00am – 6:00pm	Registration
8:00amn – 5:00pm	Short Courses
8:00am	Exhibitors Set-up
SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 1999
7:00am – 9:00pm	Registration
8:00am – 5:00pm	Short Courses
4:00 – 5:00pm	Exhibitors Reception
5:00 – 8:30pm	Opening Reception — Exhibit Area
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1999
7:00am – 6;00pm	Registration
8:00 – 10:00am	Plenary Session
10:00 – 10:30am	Coffee Break
10:30 – 12:00pm	Plenary Session
12:00 – 4:00pm	Poster Sesion — Exhibits Open
	Box Lunch provided in Exhibit Area
4:00 – 6:00pm	Track 1 — Clinical
	Track 2 — Standards
	Track 3 — Informatics
	Track 4 — Compound Management
6:00 – 7:00pm	Wine and Cheese Receptionin Exhibit Hall
7:00 – 9:00pm	Gala Dinner
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1998
7:00am – 6:00pm	Registration
8:30 – 10:00am	Track 1 — Clinical
	Track 2 — Analytical
	Track 3 — Automated Synthesis
	Track 4 — DNA Sequencing
	Track 5 — HTS
10:00 – 10:30am	Coffee Break
10:30 – 12:00pm	Track 1 — Clinical
	Track 2 — Analytical
	Track 3 — Combinatorial Chemistry
	Track 4 — DNA Sequencing
	Track 5 — Mass Spectrometry
12:00 – 4:00pm	Poster Session B — Exhibits Open Box Lunch provided in Exhibit Area
4:00 – 6:00pm	Track 1 — Clinical
	Track 2 — Software Advances
	Track 3 — HTS
	Track 4 — Proteomics
	Track 5 — Mass Spectrometry
6:00 – 8:00pm	Reception in Exhibit Hall
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1999
8:00 – 10:00am	Track 1 and 2 -Detection Technologies Track 3 and 4 Materials Research
10:00 – 10:30am	Coffee Break
10:30 – 12:00pm	Track 1 — Point of Care
	Track 2 — Biotechnology
	Track 3 — Microfluidics
	Track 4- Internet Applications
12:00 – 2:00pm	Lunch on own or Industry Sponsored Workshops
l:30 – 3:30pm	Track 1 — Molecular Diagnostics
	Track 2 — Biotechnology
	Track 3 — Microfluidics
	Track 4 — Spectroscopic Standards
4:00 – 5:30pm	Hosted Reception — Beer/Chips

For the latest information on LabAutomation'99, visit our conference web site at http://labautomation.org

January 30 to February 3, 1999 at the San Diego Sheraton Marina, San Diego, CA

The conference features the world's largest exhibition devoted to new products and services related to laboratory automation. The scientific papers interlaced with exhibit hours featuring hosted lunches and receptions give participants the opportunity to discover new products and services while networking with scientists in these diverse fields. Industry-sponsored workshop/luncheons are also provided in order for registrants to gain a thorough understanding of some of the more complex automation products. Attending LabAutomation is a must for laboratory managers, directors, information technologists, and especially automation specialists.

LabAutomation'99 Exhibitor List (as of November 1, 1998)

• 3M

• Abbott Diagnostics

• Advanced ChemTech

• AFA Technology

• Apricot Designs Inc.

• Argonaut Technologies

• A&T Corporation

• The Automation Partnership

• Bayer

• Beckman Coulter, Inc.

• Beckman Coulter, Inc. Diagnostic

• Becton Dickinson Vacutainer Systems

• Biomedical Products Magazine

• Biostart

• Biotage, a Division of Dyax Corp.

• BMC LabTechnologies Inc.

• Boehringer Mannheim Corp.

• Bohdan Automation, Inc.

• Bruker Daltonics

• California Computer Research Inc.

• Cartesian Technologies, Inc.

• Cetek Corporation

• Clids Automation

• Corning Corporation

• CRS Robotics

• Cyberlab

• Dawning Technologies Inc.

• EG&G Wallac

• Finnigan

• GeneMachines

• Genetix Ltd.

• GeneVac Ltd.

• Gilson, Inc.

• Greiner America Inc.

• Hamilton Company

• Hudson Control Group, Inc.

• IAI America, Inc.

• Intelligent Automation Systems

• Intelligent Bio Instruments in collaboration with Intelligent Automation Systems, Inc.

• IRIS

• IRORI

• Jenoptik Bioinstruments

• J-KEM Scientific, Inc.

• Julabo USA

• Lab-Interlink

• Labotix Automation Inc.

• LEAP Technologies

• LJL Biosystems

• Marsh Biomedical Products Inc.

• Matrix Technologies Corporation

• Microscan

• Millipore

• MJ Research, inc.

• Molecular BioProducts

• Motoman Inc.

• Nalge Nunc International

• NCCLS

• Olympus America

• Ortho-Clinical

• Packard Instrument Company

• Rapp Polymere

• Research & Development Magazine

• Robbins Scientific Corporation

• Robocon

• Rosys Anthos

• SAGIAN

• Scitec

• Skatron Instruments

• Sonics & Materials Inc.

• Sysmex Corporation of America

• Tecan

• Thermo Vision Colorado

• The Technology Partnership

• RTS Thurnall PLC

• Titertek

• Tomtec

• Trans logic

• V&P Scientific

• Whatman Polyfiltronics

• Zinsser Analytic GMBH

• Zymark Corporation

For the latest information on LabAutomation'99, visit our conference web site at http://labautomation.org