Thursday, October 8: Atomic Plenaries, Chemometrics, and the Emerging Leader
Three back-to-back plenaries opened Thursday in Sierra 5.14
Lester W. Strock Award: Kevin Wilkinson (Université de Montréal) spoke on characterizing atmospheric particles with single-particle ICP-TOF-MS. He told Spectroscopy his group detected up to 21 elements per particle and tracked airborne metalloids up to 6 km downwind of an industrial site, with lead isotope signatures varying by particle size.15Peter Griffiths Award: Sara Fraser-Miller (Flinders University) presented deep low-wavenumber Raman detection of buried model calcifications. In her interview, she explained that a defocused micro-spatially offset configuration performed best (AUC 0.94) and outlined what remains before clinical breast imaging.16Emerging Leader in Molecular Spectroscopy: Kitt (Litmus Analytical) argued that academic science has spent decades optimizing for funding capture rather than discovery, with predictable costs in risk aversion, reproducibility, and tenure-track attrition; he faulted the system, not its people.17
The morning “New Challenges in Chemometrics” session questioned default assumptions.18 John Kalivas (Idaho State University) showed that visual sample selection in virtual reality could match or beat autonomous local regression on NIR data, and faster. Neal Gallagher (Eigenvector Research) found the generalized spectral angle mapper best for partially filled pixels in spectral imaging. Thomas Mayerhöfer (Leibniz IPHT) showed that complex-valued versions of CLS, ILS, PCR, and PLSR consistently lowered prediction errors. Md Nahid Hasan (Duquesne University) proposed outlier diagnostics for calibration-free models in continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing, and Federico Marini (Sapienza University of Rome) presented CovSel as one framework for feature selection across data structures.18
The afternoon Emerging Leader session followed with Zac Schultz on sheath-flow SERS, Caelin Celani on reflectance spectroscopy of 204 historical textiles, Jean-François Masson on neural networks for Raman grading of more than 700 maple syrups, Porter on how shed proteins explain implausibly low pathogen detection limits, and Carol Korzeniewski on in situ Raman of electrode-supported polymers.17 Parallel sessions covered isotope-based reconstructions of ancient climates, ICP-TOF-MS in bioimaging and nuclear forensics, Coblentz sessions on photothermal IR imaging including O-PTIR of micro- and nanoplastics, PAT in biopharma and agriculture, industrial Raman, forensics, and nuclear materials. The FACSS Innovation Award session featured De Giacomo on in-flight LIBS of volcanic ash and Kalivas on virtual reality data access for blind scientists, and the SciX Gala closed the day.14
Friday, October 9: Entrepreneurship and a Look Ahead
The meeting closed Friday morning with presentation of the FACSS Innovation and student poster awards, SciFri talks on entrepreneurship by Yolanda Fintschenko and Belinda Pastrana, and a preview of SciX 2027 in Albuquerque.19
Cross-Cutting Themes
Three threads connected the week. Deployment was treated as the real test, with methods taken into clinics, reactors, brine fields, food plants, and water systems.13,17 Machine learning appeared nearly everywhere, yet the strongest talks interrogated their own signals.17,18 And matrix effects, from serum proteins to saturated brines, remain the chief obstacle between a promising method and a trusted one.8,13
Final Summary
Read day by day, SciX 2026 in Sparks showed a field that is technically confident but increasingly self-critical. Monday’s clinical Raman plenaries and Tuesday’s coherent Raman and LIBS sessions highlighted methods moving toward diagnostics and harsh environments; Wednesday tested those methods outside the laboratory; and Thursday’s chemometrics session and Kitt’s plenary asked whether the community is optimizing for the right objectives, in its models and in its institutions. For practitioners, the takeaway is that sensitivity is no longer the main bottleneck; robustness to real matrices, interpretability, standardization, and clinical and regulatory trust are.
References
(1) Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS). SciX: The Great Scientific Exchange, Home. SciX Conference, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://scixconference.org/.
(2) Wetzel, W.; Spectroscopy Staff. Previewing the Upcoming 2026 SciX Conference. Spectroscopy Online, September 2, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/previewing-the-upcoming-2026-scix-conference.
(3) Wetzel, W.; Spectroscopy Staff. What Short Courses Will Be Available at SciX 2026? Spectroscopy Online, September 14, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/what-short-courses-will-be-available-at-scix-2026-.
(4) Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS). SciX 2026 Keynote Speaker. SciX Conference, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://scixconference.org/keynote.
(5) Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS). SciX 2026 Full Schedule: Monday, October 5, 2026. SciX 2026 Online Program, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://scix2026.eventscribe.net/agenda.asp?startdate=10%2F5%2F2026&enddate=10%2F5%2F2026&BCFO=&pfp=FullSchedule&fa=&fb=&fc=&fd=.
(6) Popp, J.; Workman, J., Jr.; Wetzel, W. Jürgen Popp on Bringing Raman Diagnostics From the Laboratory to the Clinic. Spectroscopy Online, October 8, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/jurgen-popp-on-bringing-raman-diagnostics-from-the-laboratory-to-the-clinic.
(7) Porter, M.; Workman, J., Jr.; Wetzel, W. Marc Porter on SERS Immunoassays, Raman Labels, and a 95-mph Fastball. Spectroscopy Online, October 9, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/marc-porter-on-sers-immunoassays-raman-labels-and-a-95-mph-fastball.
(8) Porter, M.; Workman, J., Jr.; Wetzel, W. Taming Serum Interference: Marc Porter on Moving SERS Immunoassays Toward the Clinic. Spectroscopy Online, October 13, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/taming-serum-interference-marc-porter-on-moving-sers-immunoassays-toward-the-clinic.
(9) Das, S.; Workman, J., Jr.; Wetzel, W. Siddhartha Das Discusses Electroosmosis in Soft Nanochannels at SciX 2026. Spectroscopy Online, October 8, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/siddhartha-das-discusses-electroosmosis-in-soft-nanochannels-at-scix-2026.
(10) Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS). SciX 2026 Full Schedule: Tuesday, October 6, 2026. SciX 2026 Online Program, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://scix2026.eventscribe.net/agenda.asp?startdate=10%2F6%2F2026&enddate=10%2F6%2F2026&BCFO=&pfp=FullSchedule&fa=&fb=&fc=&fd=.
(11) De Giacomo, A.; Workman, J., Jr.; Wetzel, W. Beyond the Plasma: Alessandro De Giacomo on Laser–Matter Interaction and Nanoparticle Tagging. Spectroscopy Online, October 12, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/beyond-the-plasma-alessandro-de-giacomo-on-laser-matter-interaction-and-nanoparticle-tagging.
(12) Wetzel, W.; Spectroscopy Staff. Spectrum of Perspectives Social Event New at SciX This Year. Spectroscopy Online, September 9, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/spectrum-of-perspectives-social-event-new-at-scix-this-year.
(13) Workman, J., Jr. Out of the Lab and Into the Wild: Is Spectroscopy Finally Ready for the Real World? Spectroscopy Online, October 7, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/out-of-the-lab-and-into-the-wild-is-spectroscopy-finally-ready-for-the-real-world.
(14) Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS). SciX 2026 Full Schedule: Thursday, October 8, 2026. SciX 2026 Online Program, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://scix2026.eventscribe.net/agenda.asp?startdate=10%2F8%2F2026&enddate=10%2F8%2F2026&BCFO=&pfp=FullSchedule&fa=&fb=&fc=&fd=.
(15) Wilkinson, K.; Workman, J., Jr.; Wetzel, W. Kevin Wilkinson on Tracing Airborne Metal Pollution Particle by Particle. Spectroscopy Online, October 9, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/kevin-wilkinson-on-tracing-airborne-metal-pollution-particle-by-particle.
(16) Fraser-Miller, S.; Workman, J., Jr.; Wetzel, W. Sara Miller on Detecting Microcalcifications With Low-Frequency Raman. Spectroscopy Online, October 9, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/sara-fraser-miller-on-detecting-microcalcifications-with-low-frequency-raman.
(17) Workman, J., Jr. The Wrong Objective Function: Jay Kitt’s Emerging Leader Plenary and Award Session at SciX 2026. Spectroscopy Online, October 8, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/the-wrong-objective-function-jay-kitts-emerging-leader-plenary-and-award-session-at-scix-2026.
(18) Workman, J., Jr. Trust the Algorithm or the Analyst? SciX 2026 Chemometrics Session Challenges Old Assumptions. Spectroscopy Online, October 12, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/trust-the-algorithm-or-the-analyst-scix-2026-chemometrics-session-challenges-old-assumptions.
(19) Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS). SciX 2026 Full Schedule: Friday, October 9, 2026. SciX 2026 Online Program, 2026. (accessed Oct 13, 2026). https://scix2026.eventscribe.net/agenda.asp?startdate=10%2F9%2F2026&enddate=10%2F9%2F2026&BCFO=&pfp=FullSchedule&fa=&fb=&fc=&fd=.