One-Day Course
Date to be announce; 8:30am – 5:00pm
Lee Polite, Axion Analytical Laboratories, Inc., Chicago, IL

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Gas chromatography is one of the most widely used analytical techniques, yet many practitioners rely on routine methods without a clear understanding of the underlying principles. This one-day course equips scientists with a practical framework for understanding how key variables — temperature, column properties, carrier gas flow, and inlet conditions — govern separation. Participants will learn how to apply these fundamentals to method development, optimization, and troubleshooting. Drawing on Dr. Lee Polite’s 25 years of teaching experience, the course emphasizes clear reasoning, transferable skills, and immediately applicable strategies that strengthen analytical confidence and professional competence.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This course is designed for anyone who wants a clear, practical understanding of gas chromatography. It is ideal for beginners starting their GC journey, scientists transitioning from HPLC, technicians running methods, and experienced chromatographers who want a deeper conceptual framework. No advanced mathematics or theory background is required. Dr. Lee Polite’s teaching style makes complex ideas approachable while still delivering depth valued by PhD-level scientists. Whether you feel underqualified or overqualified, this course helps you strengthen fundamentals, connect theory to real decisions, and gain the confidence to troubleshoot and optimize GC methods.

TOPICS
1. Introduction to Gas Chromatography
GC explained in plain language using analogies that stick. You will finally understand what the instrument is doing and why.
2. Resolution and Separation Fundamentals
Learn the separation parameters that actually matter and how to use them to improve results on purpose, not by trial and error,
3. GC Instrumentation
A practical tour of the nuts and bolts of GC so you understand how each component influences your chromatogram.
4. Method Development
How to develop a GC method from scratch using a simple decision framework you can apply immediately.
5. Troubleshooting Strategies
Learn how to diagnose what is wrong, identify the root cause, and make informed fixes with confidence

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Dr. Lee Polite has spent more than 25 years teaching chromatography to over 14,000 scientists worldwide, including professionals from major pharmaceutical, chemical, petrochemical, and government laboratories (DEA, EPA, FDA, DOD, and Homeland Security). He earned his PhD in chromatography from Virginia Tech under Professor Harold McNair. Dr. Polite previously served as a research scientist and group leader in the petrochemical industry before founding Axion Analytical Labs and Axion Training Institute in Chicago. He has taught more than 250 short courses and serves as the American Chemical Society’s National Instructor of Chromatography, where Axion provides hands-on HPLC/UPLC and GC training. He also leads Axion Labs’ educational video program, which has reached a global audience through hundreds of publicly available chromatography training videos.