About Mark Trudgett
Summary
Working on the ultra-trace analysis of xanthates.
Is there room for entrepreneurship, scientific research and social and intellectual challenge and creativity in one career? The answer to that question is certainly debatable, but I believe that a variety of skills and experience provide not only satisfaction in different fields but also a body of expertise that creates a balance between the exigencies of sometimes disparate objectives. From quality assurance to chromatography, computational modelling to patents in scientific analysis, today’s world, and my life is an integration of multi-domain skills.
Contact
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Publications
Click below to view a list with links to some of publications and patents
Career Summary
Education:
Bachelor of Science – Having partially completed a degree in biological / biomedical sciences, I shifted to full-time employment in analytical chemistry and later completed my BSc with a major in chemistry.
Master of Science (Honours) – My first taste of academic research, in this case, applied to environmental analytical chemistry. I was awarded MSc(Hons) in 2005 for my thesis entitled “The Ultra-Trace Analysis of Xanthates by High Performance Liquid Chromatography”.
Master of Science Management – With substantial experience in industry where the quality of management of science and scientists differed markedly it was time to put my own business experience and understanding of the nature of science to the test. The result was admission to the degree of MScM by UTS in 2007.
Doctor of Philosophy – One taste was not enough. Research allowed me to challenge myself, to test my own knowledge, reasoning, imagination and creativity. I began a project in the multidimensional HPLC (LCxLC) separations of complex samples of natural origin but quickly discovered that these powerful LCxLC techniques were very slow, expensive and time-consuming. I developed a new, faster approach, demonstrated and explored its potential by computational modelling, designed and built a prototypical instrument and finally proved that my approach can in fact decrease analysis times by at least an order of magnitude without sacrificing separation power. The examination of my PhD thesis, “Towards Comprehensive Online Multidimensional Frequency Transform Separations”, was completed in early May 2014 and graduation will be in September 2014.
Non-Award Studies include “Knowledge Transfer and Research Commercialisation” (High Distinction) and “Principles and Practice of Research Management” (Distinction), both via UTS.
Professional Recognition
Since 2006, I’ve been certified as a Chartered Chemist (CChem) with the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and I’m also a member of the American Chemical Society and Member of CASSS – An International Separation Science Society.
Work, occupations and employment
I’ve developed professional experience in:
Consulting Analytical Chemistry – Over five years working independently and for Analchem Consultants, National Analytical Laboratories, Advanced Analytical Australia and CompleMED (UWS). With positions ranging from laboratory analyst to chief chemist and laboratory manager, I’ve dealt with pesticide and antibiotic residue analyses to herbicides, trace metals and agricultural and pharmaceutical formulations. Nominated NATA, TGA and APVMA analyst.
Pharmaceutical and Complementary Medicines Analytical Chemistry – Heavily involved with quality assurance, stability programs, methods development, documentation and quality systems with 3M Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Glaxo-SmithKline and CompleMED. Eight years combined experience in positions from analytical scientist to Laboratory Manger / TGA nominated licensee (CompleMED Herbal Analysis Laboratory).
Research in Separations Science – The equivalent of seven full-time years has been applied to research dedicated to the better understanding of ecological and biological systems. Foundation studies in the identification of pheromones of Australian native teleost fish were carried out collaboratively between the University of Western Sydney and the University of Minnesota. A lack of sufficient resources and funding within Australia saw this research shift to the trace environmental analysis of toxic sulfhydryl mineral flotation agents (xanthates, in particular) in aquatic and terrestrial systems. My later research in multidimensional liquid chromatography was undertaken with the guidance of world leaders in the field: Professors Andrew Shalliker and Georges Guiochon. By applying the power of mathematics (Fourier, wavelet and Radon transforms in particular) to that of multidimensional separations, I demonstrated a new approach to the very high speed identification of analytes in very complex samples of natural origin. This invention (COMForTS) is now the subject of an international Patent application (PCT/AU2012/000142).
Small Business – I’ve run two very different small businesses over a total of about eight years. Each business provided different services / products with high levels of customer satisfaction. Both also demanded high levels of proficiency in customer interactions, marketing, casual staff management, accounting, operations management and information technologies. The skills and knowledge acquired here were enhanced by formal studies in the management and commercialisation of scientific research.
Teaching – I’ve had very rewarding and demanding experiences teaching and tutoring adults, school students, university students and colleagues. It is all well and good to know something – but to share that knowledge and make it meaningful to others is, I think, of vital importance. From tutoring HSC students in biology and maths to designing and running Introductory High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) workshops for pharmaceutical analysts; from public outreach in astronomy through my (unpaid) “Space is Big” initiative, to lecturing computing-for-science subjects at university (UWS) and introducing adults to the joys of fly-casting and fly-fishing - people have always been willing to pay me to teach them the things that I do/did very well – even when I’m happy to do it free of charge…
Photos
Relaxing at Long Plain Homestead, 2011
Photos
Presenting COMForTS at HPLC 2011, Budapest.