2019 Pittcon Heritage Award for Supelco® Founders

Scientific research has been revolutionised by the use of instrumentation to achieve faster and more impactful results. The Pittcon Heritage Award is presented annually by the Chemical Heritage Foundation and the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (Pittcon) to recognise outstanding contributions to the instrumentation and laboratory supplies community and to encourage emulation, inspire achievement and promote public understanding of modern sciences, industries and economies.

The Chemical Heritage Foundation and the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy have awarded Supelco® founders, Dr. Walter Supina and Mr. Nicholas Pelick with the 2019 Pittcon Heritage Award for their contributions to instrumentation and laboratory supplies which helped to transform the scientific community.

In the 1960s, chromatography as a practical analytical tool was in its commercial infancy. As instrument companies came on line to develop and introduce gas chromatographs to new markets, Walter (Walt) and Nicholas (Nick) stepped up to become pioneers at serving customers with the columns, standards, reagents, and accessories to get the most out of those instruments. Recognising the potential of Gas Chromatography (GC) to provide purified lipid standards for medical research, Walt brought his chemical engineering background and Nick his lipid biochemistry education together to form Supelco, Inc. in 1966.

Supelco Inc. brought many "firsts" to the market, including innovations around particles, columns, surface chemistry, and devices that solved specific analytical challenges for their customers. While other players have come and gone, the Supelco® analytical portfolio continues to be innovating, and still serving the global analytical community as part of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Through the years and changes, they never lost sight of the customer, Nick was quoted saying "We made every effort to show the customer that we gave a damn...we would never sell products that were inferior...we never compromised." To drive that home, the Supelco® brand name is now used to represent all analytical (e.g. chromatography, spectroscopy, titration) products in the Merck KGaA portfolio. It is a real testament to the innovation, quality, and customer service culture that Walt and Nick created. The innovations developed as a result of Walt and Nick's passion for the customer and vision of technical leadership are extensive.

Their legacy lives on in the Supelco® analytical product portfolio of Merck—made by analytical chemists for analytical chemists.