Academic News

On June 6th, the local chapter of the AOAC (the Association of Official Analytical Communities) will hold its annual “AOAC Day” in Winnipeg, at the Victoria Inn on Wellington. The day will feature technical presentations, free training sessions, equipment displays, a buffet lunch and much more, including a fascinating talk by Dr. Ed Cloutis of the University of Winnipeg, entitled “Exploring Mars with the Curiosity rover: analytical capabilities and latest results.” Registration is only $25 at the door. For more information about the local AOAC and AOAC day, follow this link.

As well, you can find the latest (May 2013) AOAC newsletter here.

Joe Justice presented at Protegra’s Software Development and Evolution Conference in 2012. He introduced SDEC attendees – senior software professionals – to WIKISPEED’s real life experience of using Agile methods to change the world.

“At Protegra, we believe in creativity and innovation, and involving great people using agile and lean practices to solve tough problems.  Protegra fully supports this WINNISPEED event as a great opportunity to get our next generation of innovators and creators – RRC students – involved in bring Winnipeg closer to a broader mission of rapidly solving problems for social good.”

We are very excited to welcome Protegra as a Supporting Sponsor of WINNISPEED.

Reserve your spot on either of the two days at https://blogs.rrc.ca/bit/event-registration/.

We are delighted to welcome CIC as a Friend of WINNISPEED. The Composites Innovation Centre is a not-for-profit Manitoba corporation that is jointly sponsored by private industry and government. Its mandate is to support and stimulate economic growth through innovative research, development and application of composite materials and technologies for manufacturing industries.

“CIC is excited to be part of WINNISPEED’s broader mission related to solving problems for social good. If composites can assist with that in terms of being ‘greener’ or leaving less carbon footprint in terms of manufacturing processes than that’s what we are all about.”

Reserve your spot on either of the two days at https://blogs.rrc.ca/bit/event-registration/.

Students working on preparing samples for their HPLC analysis

One group of second year students from the Chemical and Biosciences Technology program continued the research started by faculty members Michael Judge and Curtis Aab using Ethyl Lactate (EL) as an HPLC solvent. This work was conducted as part of the new Research Project course recently added to the program. The students explored the use of EL with a new analyte which was methocarbamol , an over the counter (OTC) drug used to treat back pain.

As part of their work the students developed a research proposal, provided ongoing updates of their results, and prepared a final report and presentation. The research was successful as they were able to analyze a finished product, Robaxacet that contained both methocarbamol and acetaminophen. As a starting point the students modified an existing method from the USP (United States Pharmacopeia) for analyzing methocarbamol. They increased the efficiency of this method because the EL mobile phase yielded a shorter run time while still producing well resolved analyte peaks. This project also created the opportunity for future Chemical and Bioscience Technology students to continue this research next year.

The students have accepted the opportunity to present their research at the 2013 Mid-Canada AOAC day on Thursday, June 6^th, 2013.

The Optima 8000

The Chemical/Biosciences instrumental laboratory recently gained a valuable new tool: a Perkin Elmer Optima 8000 ICP-OES spectrometer. ICP is an acronym for “inductively coupled plasma,” while OES stands for “optical emission spectroscopy.” OES is a method of analyzing chemical mixtures or solutions to determine concentrations of trace elements. In this technique, a sample of the material being analyzed is energized to excite its atoms. Since the excited atoms of each element emit light at specific characteristic wavelengths, the presence and the amounts of various elements can be determined by monitoring the emitted light. Some instruments use the heat of a flame to excite the sample, but ICP uses a “plasma” made of ionized argon gas energized by an electromagnetic field.

One of the most important features of an ICP instrument is its very low detection limit. An ICP can typically detect the presence of analytes, such as arsenic or lead in drinking water, at concentrations below one part per billion. When you consider that one part per billion is the equivalent of one second out of a time span of 32 years, the amazing ability of this instrument becomes obvious.

The department is excited about having this new instrument on board and to be able to allow students to gain some valuable hands-on experience in this state-of-the-art analytical technology.

Solvatochromism was used to determine the polarity of ethyl lactate.

Red River College encourages instructional staff to undertake original research and, last year, faculty in the chemical and biosciences program spent some time looking at ways to improve a common analytical method. High performance liquid chromatography, or HPLC, is very widely used in chemical labs and processing facilities to separate and analyze chemical mixtures. However, most HPLC systems employ liquid solvents, such as methanol, which are often toxic.

Curtis Aab and Michael Judge were curious as to whether these toxic solvents could be replaced with a different, more environmentally-friendly liquid. They used ethyl lactate, a solvent which is so safe that it can be applied as an ingredient in cosmetics and foods. Research at the College demonstrated that ethyl lactate could indeed replace methanol when analyzing different pharmaceutical compounds using an officially approved HPLC method. Subsequent work by chemical/biosciences students extended the range of pharmaceuticals which can be analyzed using ethyl lactate. These findings could potentially allow at least some of the thousands of HPLC systems worldwide to transition to a “greener” process.

The research results were accepted for publication in the Canadian Journal of Chemistry and appeared in the May 2013 issue under the title “Ethyl lactate as an environmentally friendly HPLC mobile-phase modifier in the analysis of acetaminophen, caffeine, and ASA.” A link to the journal website is provided below.

http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/journal/cjc

We are over-awesomed to welcome Manitoba’s innovation accelerator, Innovate Manitoba, as a Friend of WINNISPEED.

“Awesomeness builds velocity“, and we will be building lots of it June 10-11 when Joe comes to RRC for two separate builds of the Team WIKISPEED 100 mpg car.

Reserve your spot on either of the two days at https://blogs.rrc.ca/bit/event-registration/.

A student discusses dye oxidation results.

This April, the second year students of the Chemical and Biosciences Co-op diploma program presented the results of their independent research projects, representing many hours of hard work over the preceding four months. Each group of students worked independently under the supervision of a faculty member to perform a unique project designed to investigate various aspects of chemical or biological sciences. The projects were extremely varied and represented the wide array of skills taught in the program. The topics investigated were:

• Testing rice for arsenic using inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectroscopy
• Environmentally-friendly oxidation of dyes in wastewater via tungstate-catalyzed peroxide
• Antimicrobial properties of plant extracts
• Genetically modified foods in common grocery products
• Rates of methicillin-resistant bacteria in the general population
• A “green” solvent for use in liquid chromatography

Students presented a number of surprising and interesting findings, including evidence that at least one brand of “organic” snack foods contained genetically modified corn. Some of the student groups may go on to present their work at the upcoming Association of Analytical Communities (AOAC) event, June 6th at the Victoria Inn, right here in Winnipeg.

 
We invite the graphic design industry to our annual showcase of graduating student work
Thursday May 2, 4:30 pm
Roblin Centre, Princess & William

Guest Speaker Shayne Tupper at 7 pm

Shayne is a Montréal-born graphic design student and artist. He is a student in the graphic design program at UQÀM (Université du Québec à Montréal), set to graduate in 2014. In early 2012, coinciding with the Québec student strike, he and twelve other students founded the École de la Montagne Rouge, a student-run graphic design school. He has participated in exhibitions at Concordia University in Montreal and the Interference Archive in New-York City.

Click on About Us to learn about the Teacher Education Programs at Red River College and how to apply. Apply today to reserve your future!