The Open University and Agilent Technologies UK Limited today announced the launch of the Agilent Centre of Excellence in Comprehensive Chromatography to be hosted in the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute, at The Open University.

The Centre, based in Milton Keynes, will provide the opportunity for Agilent to showcase its recent developments in capillary flow technology hardware to provide a robust and accessible platform technology to support UK analysts in developing applications that utilise multi-dimensional gas chromatography.

Gas chromatography (GC) is the most widely used tool in separation sciences. Multi-dimensional chromatography, utilising two GC columns, has shown that many samples are much more complex than one-dimensional separation techniques can determine. Agilent has developed a unique modulator that is simpler to operate and provides a lower cost of ownership compared to thermal modulation used in other systems. Rather than using cryogenics, flow differentials trap or focus analytes as they exit the first column. The capillary flow technology in these modulators utilizes a new way of fabricating complex structures, which when combined with several other improvements allows the construction of in-oven devices that make difficult GC application problems easier to solve.

The Centre will allow potential customers hands-on access to this hardware, in the form of a dedicated GCxGC-FID/ECD/MS system, and interactions with Diane Turner and Bryan White, two of the leading exponents of comprehensive chromatography in the UK. Specifically, the Centre will provide:

• Instrument Demonstrations

• Application Development (customer specific)

• Application Development (strategic)

• Method Training

Dr Geraint Morgan, Centre Director of the Agilent Centre of Excellence in Comprehensive Chromatography, The Open University, said, “Comprehensive Chromatography is an important component of terrestrial and extra-terrestrial research at The Open University. The establishment of the Agilent Centre of Excellence provides our researchers with a unique opportunity to access world-leading technology and expertise, in addition to providing a vehicle for raising the profile of our research and analytical infrastructure with the analytical community.”

Sarah Corbin, UK Sales Manager, Agilent Technologies, said, “For more than ten years, multidimensional GC has been largely confined to the research laboratory, used only by skilled practitioners of gas chromatography. With reliable, easy-to-use hardware integrated in to the chromatograph, the technique is now ready for more routine laboratory settings.”

Anyone interested in the services provided by the new Centre should contact [email protected]

About The Open University

The Open University (OU) is the largest higher education institution in the UK and a world leader in flexible distance learning. Since it began in 1969, the OU has taught more than 1.7 million students and has more than 264,000 current students, including 20,000 overseas, learning in their own time using course materials, online activities and content, web-based forums and tutorials and through tutor groups and residential schools.

The OU has been highly rated for teaching quality, and has been at the top of student satisfaction rankings in the National Student Survey since it was introduced in 2005. 70% of students are in full-time or part-time employment, and three out of four FTSE 100 companies have sponsored staff to take OU courses.

The OU supports a vibrant research portfolio and in the UK’s latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008), the University climbed 23 places to 43rd, securing a place in the UK’s top 50 higher education institutions. With 70+ members of staff the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute (PSSRI) is the largest planetary sciences group in the UK. PSSRI spans a wide range of integrated research into the cosmo-chemical, physical and bio-geochemical nature of the Solar System. This collective expertise has many applications well beyond the bounds of planetary science and has recently been accessed by a range of industrial partners.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is the world’s premier measurement company and a technology leader in chemical analysis, life sciences, electronics and communications. The company’s 18,500 employees serve customers in more than 100 countries. Agilent had net revenues of $5.4 billion in fiscal 2010. Information about Agilent is available at www.agilent.com.