moonwise | (no subject)

This is a totally HPLC-produced rant, brought to you by Inotek Corp.

So they send me their damnable samples. They send me loads of FP-15 in a jar and a bunch of traces and say "this stuff is really bad, make some sense out of it." I put together a solvent system and fire back some traces.

They don't believe my traces and continue to point at their data, which looks like a lot of noise. No data at all about what wavelength they're monitoring, no photo-diode array spectra, no nothing to prove to me that what they're seeing is what they say it is.

They have this big old peak at about 11 minutes that they claim is their FP-15 peak coming out. Well, Messrs. HPLC techs who must know more than Arafel because they are freaking getting PAID for this job and she is not, your fool FP-15 peak is damn skippy NOT coming out at 11 minutes. Your FP-15 peak is coming out much later, and we have the same column as you do and I am using your gradient, how about that.

You guys are just full of crap and that's all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From what I understand of the process you went through, I would have to side with you, and in fact say they are indeed full of crap. :)

Yeah, well, down the hatch. One of our postdocs was trying to get an interview with them b/c they're in the Boston area (which is where he wants to be) and he's rethinking that very much!! ;)

Since I don't have the slightest idea what you are talking about I must turn to the wisdom of the Magic Eight Ball for my answer.

And the Magic Eight Ball says, "Nuke 'em 'till they glow!"

Man, I love that Magic Eight Ball.....

Boy, I don't remember my magic 8-ball I had as a kid ever giving answers like that! =P

heh heh heh.....This is the Special Edition Magic Eight Ball. **Evil grin**

lol I quite agree with your Magic 8-ball. :) *readies the Tactical Strike Force*

This is, of course, Greek to me. I have to say though, that there is nothing more annoying than having someone ask your opinion and then not listen. Why the @#$%¿¡ did they ask in the first place!?

I love that expression “damn skippy”! Where did that come from?

Indeed. That's what's bugging me the most - they come to me/us with a problem, we give them our answer, and they say "no."

*grins* I don't know where "damn skippy" comes from! I've just always known it. It's a cute expression though, very useful for expressing derision.

...which looks like a lot of noise. No data at all about what wavelength they're monitoring, no photo-diode array spectra...

Got to admit it sounds like they've done some crappy experiements and you've done some good ones. You've got to wonder when was the last time Inotek's column was cleaned of all the crap they've probably got stuck to it as well. Remember that technicians are paid and so he's not just defending his data, but his job. But that, as they say, is not your problem.

I take it you've had some similar experiences. :)

I wonder that too, whether they just haven't been conditioning their columns properly, or what. If you aren't monitoring in the UV, then you have to take into account that you might get false peaks if you're using a refractive index detector or somesuch when you abruptly change solvent conditions, which is what they're doing.

*sobs* It is my problem, my boss keeps telling me that it is! :)

I haven't done any HPLC for years and luckily we aren't doing that sort of stuff for industrial collaborators. But I have seen more than enough dubious experiments in my time!

Argh... how annoying. I like to think that research in companies is held to the same standards that academic research is (if not higher, since they're serving the public, not the egos of professors), but when I hear stuff like this, it makes me wonder.

Yeah. These fellows really make me wonder about the caliber of people working for them. Granted, it's a startup and hence is probably more likely to have trouble than an established company like Merck, but come on, folks!! This is silly!

I remember so little from Chemistry... But I do think you ought to send them a bag of salt and tell them something terrible happened to everyone who looked at the stuff around midnight...

That sounds like a good idea. Hmm... they're already having fits over the quality of material... give 'em something else to worry about.