Pittcon 2026
Pittcon 2026 Conference + Expo
- Connect. Cultivate. Collaborate.
Pittcon is a dynamic, international conference and exposition on laboratory science, a venue for presenting the latest advances in analytical research and scientific instrumentation, and a platform for continuing education and science-enhancing opportunity.
Pittcon is for anyone who develops, buys, or sells laboratory equipment, performs physical or chemical analyses, develops analysis methods, or manages these scientists.
REGISTER TO ATTEND PITTCON 2026
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Pittcon isn’t just a conference; it’s a nexus of collaboration, a space where the boundaries between industries blur, and the possibilities for connection are limitless. Here, you’re not confined to a singular niche; you’re part of a community where analytical chemists from all walks of professional life converge.
Whether you’re a seasoned professional seeking future collaborators, a newcomer looking for mentors to guide your journey, or someone in need of innovative solutions, Pittcon is where connections happen!
Registration fees
- Full Attendee: $425
- After 1-29-2026 increases to $575)
- Full conference & expo access all days
- Expo Only: $200
- No access to Technical Program
- Student: $100
- Must show student ID
- One Day (Saturday): Free
- Only if a Short Course is purchased
- One Day (Sunday): $290
- Access to Short Courses & Technical Program
- One Day (Mon or Tues): $290
- Full conference & expo access
- One Day (Wednesday): Free
- Full conference & expo access
Full Attendee / Student
- Expo floor access
- All Technical Program sessions
- Full Show Week (Saturday – Wednesday)
One Day
- Expo floor access
- All Technical Program sessions
- Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday
Expo Only
- Expo floor access only
- Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
Pittcon: The Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy
Technical Program
If it’s Happening in the Lab, it’s Happening at Pittcon
Our diverse program offers multiple prestigious platforms, from Invited Symposia and Organized Sessions to Oral and Poster Sessions, each designed to highlight the latest research and foster invaluable connections.
Expositions
Pittcon’s international exposition gives you the opportunity to see the latest laboratory instrumentation, participate in demonstrations and product seminars, talk directly with technical experts, and find solutions to your laboratory challenges.
Engage with vendor partners showcasing the latest innovations, share insights with mentors who have navigated similar paths, and participate in conversations that spark new ideas and solutions.
Short Courses
With almost 50 topics to choose from, Pittcon’s in-depth, professional quality Short Courses are a valuable, yet affordable opportunity for continuing education.
Pittcon’s Short Courses cover significant topics in bioanalytics, cannabis, energy, enviroscience, food science, forensics, industry, life sciences, nanotechnology, materials science, pharmaceuticals, and many more.
- Atomic Spectroscopy
- Biomedical Engineering
- Chemometrics
- Data Management and Data Analysis
- Environmental Analysis
- Gas Chromatography
- Homeland Defense
- Industrial Hygiene and Safety
- Life Sciences
- Liquid Chromatography
- Mass Spectrometry
- Microscopy
- Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Professional & Career Development
- Regulatory Compliance
- Sample Preparation
- Statistics
- Validation
Course Pricing and Promotions
New Pricing!
- Buy two (2) Short Courses, get 20% off
- Buy three (3) or more Short Courses, get 30% off
Full Day Course: $799
- After 1-29-2026 increases to $899
Half Day Course: $399
- After 1-29-2026 increases to $499
Wallace H. Coulter Lecture
Innovation by Evolution: Bringing New Chemistry to Life
- Presented by Nobel Laureate, Professor Frances H. Arnold
- Stars at Night Ballroom
- 5:30 PM Sunday, March 8
- Join us for a Welcome Reception immediately following the Lecture.
Pittcon 2026: Keynote Lecture - Innovation by Evolution - Bringing New Chemistry to Life (Frances H. Arnold)
Arnold received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University in 1979 and a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1985. She spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow at Berkeley before arriving at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) as a visiting associate. She became an assistant professor in 1987, an associate professor in 1992, and finally a full professor in 1996.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, research that used enzymes to catalyze chemical reactions was very difficult, because the typical approach involved trying to figure out from first principles how to change an enzyme. Arnold decided to use a different approach, that of evolution. She altered the enyzme subtilisin E, which breaks down the protein casein, so it would work in the solvent dimethylformamide (DMF) instead of in the watery environment of a cell. She introduced many random mutations into the genetic code of bacteria that made subtilisin E, and she introduced her mutated enzymes into an environment that contained both DMF and casein. She selected the new enzyme that was best at breaking down casein in DMF and introduced random mutations into that enzyme. After three such generations, she ended up with a mutated subtilisin E that was 256 times better at breaking down casein in DMF than the original.
Arnold and her coworkers extended the technique of directed enzyme evolution to change enzymes for reactions that no enzyme had catalyzed before. They also evolved enzymes to make substances with bonds that do not occur in biology, such as bonds between carbon and silicon and carbon and boron.
Arnold cofounded two companies based on her work. Gevo, founded in 2005, uses yeast to make isobutanol, which can be used instead of ethanol in making fuel. Provivi, founded in 2013, alters insect pheromones so that pests harmful to crops will be unable to mate with each other.
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Arnold received in 2011 the Charles Stark Draper Prize and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.
Abstract
The most powerful design process ever invented is evolution: it generates incomparable functionality and works at all scales, from molecules to entire ecosystems. There is nothing like it in the world of human engineering. Humans have used evolution for biological design for thousands of years, choosing who mates with whom and who goes on to parent the next generation. We can now use evolution to explore the future of chemistry by engineering the catalysts of life, enzymes. I will describe how we can direct enzyme evolution to solve challenging chemical problems once thought to be out of reach of biology, and even of chemistry.
General Onsite Info
Convention Center Infromation
Boston Convention & Exhibition Center
415 Summer St, 02210, Boston, MA, United States
