DXC 2011: Celebrating 60 Years of Covering Applications of 45 X-ray Analysis

Spectroscopy previews the 60th Annual Denver X-ray Conference, to be held August 1–5, 2011, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The 60th Annual Denver X-ray Conference will take place August 1–5, 2011, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Exhibits will be held in the Colorado Grand Ballroom, on the ground floor of the hotel.

(PHILIP NEALEY/GETTYIMAGES)

As implied by its title, this year's conference marks the 60th anniversary since its inception in 1951. The conference has come a long way since then and has witnessed many ground-breaking presentations and technological advances. The conference mission statement explains the goals of the conference best: "Workshops are run by experts who provide training and education on many practical applications of X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction techniques for the study of materials. Designed to help attendees (with little or many years of experience), our workshops will solve some of their most difficult problems." While celebrating DXC's storied history, keep this quote in mind because this year's conference will surely deliver an immeasurable amount of knowledge and passion from its presenters, attendees, and exhibitors.

Workshops

Workshops will be held Monday and Tuesday, August 1 and August 2, with morning sessions from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and afternoon sessions from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Topics include, "Two-Dimensional Detectors," "X-ray Metrology," "Basic XRF," "X-ray Optics," "Materials Characterization by Combining X-ray Analytical with 3D X-ray Imaging Techniques," "Fundamentals of Digital Signal Processing & X-ray Detectors," and "In-situ High Temperature XRD," among others.

Awards and Plenary Session

This year's plenary session delves into a very hot topic right now, "Foods & Drugs." The session will be held Wednesday morning, August 3, in the Summit Ballroom located on the 4th floor of the hotel. The event will begin with opening remarks from Robert L. Snyder, Chairman of the Denver X-ray Conference, and will move right along to the awards presentation.

Two awards will be presented during the session: the 2011 Barrett Award, presented biannually, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of powder diffraction; and the 2011 Jenkins Award, which recognizes scientists who exhibit lifetime achievement in the advancement of the use of X-rays in materials analysis. Dr. Juan Rodriguez-Carvajal (Lab. Leon Brillouin, CEA-CNRS, Gif Sur Yvette, France) will receive the Barrett award from Cev Noyan (Columbia University, New York, New York). Dr. Paul K. Predecki (University of Denver, Denver, Colorado) will receive the Jenkins award from T.G. Fawcett (International Centre for Diffraction Data, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania).

Following the awards, the plenary session will continue with invited papers entitled "Edible Nanostructures — The Pleasures of Chocolate," "From the Field to the Lab — FDA Use of XRF to Monitor Foods, Drugs and Other Consumer Products," "What Else Are You Drinking When You Drink Whiskey or Wine?" and "X-ray Powder Diffraction in the Pharmaceutical Industry."

Exhibits, Poster Sessions, and Special Events

There will be about 30 companies showcasing their products and answering questions in the exhibit hall throughout the week. Exhibit hours are 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, 12:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, and 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m on Thursday.

There will also be several special events throughout the week, starting with an XRD poster session and wine and cheese reception sponsored by PANalytical and ICDD on Monday evening from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. On Tuesday evening, there will be an XRF poster session and wine and cheese reception sponsored by Chemplex Industries, Inc., from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. There will also be a "Spouses' Coffee Hour" Monday and Tuesday mornings from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in the El Paso room. The 60th anniversary party will be held Wednesday evening from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the Exhibit Hall. Finally, there will be a special off-site event on Thursday that was not released at the time of this publication. Please visit www.dxcicdd.com for more details.