A couple of weeks ago, I received a phone call from a colleague of mine that I hadn’t talked to in several years. He had read my e-Newsletter, looked at my blog and my website. He found it all pretty interesting, but he was puzzled. He could see that I had done a lot of stuff in past few years, but what he really wanted to know was what my company actually does. We talked for about 20 minutes. He strongly suggested that I spend some time trying to say succinctly what I do to help clients. In this blog I try to describe simply what Stites & Associates does to serve its clients.
In bullet form I can list the main activities of Stites & Associates as:
- Set Up Labs and Experiments
- Evaluate Data
- Evaluate Lab Operations
- Evaluate and Improve Technologies
Set Up Labs and Experiments:
This has been the bread and butter of my career. I have set up seven laboratories pretty much from scratch. That included evaluating needs, finding (or expanding) space, buying equipment, hiring and training people, writing Quality Assurance Plans, Chemical Hygiene Plans, Safety Manuals and Standard Operating Procedures. I have also set up numerous satellite or remote laboratory operations – often temporary in nature and in some very challenging environments.
I have developed many new analytical techniques and one-of-a-kind experiments. This usually involved evaluating the problem, finding the most appropriate technique, setting up the method, testing the procedure with known materials and evaluating the data for usability. Sometimes this involved new applications of existing techniques. Sometimes this required developing a brand new technique. Often the problem was working out the best way to collect a representative sample. It always involved a careful evaluation of the precision and accuracy of the entire analytical process.
These kinds of activities have always made up a large portion of the work done by Stites & Associates. There are two active projects of this type in process right now.
Evaluate Data:
This is one of the most interesting and challenging facets of Stites & Associates. Often data has already been generated, but the results just don’t make sense. Sometimes the results are “too good to be true” or “couldn’t possibly be that bad.” Frequently both kinds of results have been generated at different times. This leaves the client in a quandary, not knowing what to believe. This has always been one of my fortes. I’ve had a lot of hands-on experience with actual work in the lab and actual sampling in the field. I’ve made just about every mistake in the book and know, almost instinctively, where to look first.
More recently I’ve become very adept at statistical evaluation of data. Sometimes there hasn’t been an obvious mistake, but rather an inadequate experimental design. In other words, the sampling and analysis plan simply couldn’t give data with sufficient precision and accuracy to meet the objectives of the experiment. Often what is really needed is a re-thinking of the whole analytical approach so that the client has a high probability of getting statistically valid data that meets the objective of the experiment.
The evaluation of data often goes well beyond just a laboratory evaluation. Frequently it is business and financial objectives that really drive analytical objectives. Often my business and financial training has been very helpful in translating these business needs into analytical objectives.
Historically, this type of work has been the main driver of some of the largest projects performed by Stites & Associates. One project with a supplier of industrial equipment was essentially a full-time, nearly one-year assignment.
Evaluate Lab Operations:
Because I have managed many different types of laboratories (organic, inorganic, fermentation, radiological, etc.) and at many different levels (bench, executive, sales, etc.), I am often asked to assess the operation of an existing laboratory. Many of these have been commercial laboratories that are designed to sell analytical work for profit. Trying to make a profit on doing analytical work adds another level of complexity to the evaluation. Sometimes the issue is quality. Sometimes it is turn-around time. Sometimes it is safety. Sometimes it is the balance between cost and revenue. It is almost always a complex combination of:
- Procedures
- Processes (including IT and Sales)
- Training
- Motivation
- Organization
These kinds of projects have been quite numerous. They are generally of shorter duration and are usually narrowly focused.
Evaluate and Improve Technologies:
This is a rather new (last 7 years) development. Before 2006, most of the work done by Stites & Associates was closely tied to laboratory work. Nevertheless, there was always an interest in inventions and new technologies. My dad, H. W. Stites, was an inventor and so was my great-great grandfather, George Stites (see US Patent 351813). In 1978 I went into business with my dad building a hydraulically driven wire spooler that he invented for the steel wire rope industry (see US Patent 4076182). The downturn in the steel industry in the US put the kibosh on that business and I had to get back into laboratory work to make a living.
Nevertheless, starting in 2006 I was given the opportunity to improve gasification and catalyst technologies. I now have 5 patents in that area. I have other patents pending in several other areas that have been driven by client needs. What I have found is that by combining excellent analytical work with diligent research and “outside-the-box” thinking, it is possible to not only evaluate existing technology, but to gain insight into the best ways to try to improve a technology. Often this combination results in learning how to make non-obvious improvements that can result in real breakthroughs. This is certainly one of the most exciting and rewarding type of work now being pursued by Stites & Associates. In fact, we are now starting to work on some internally funded research of considerable promise. I will be talking about that more in a blog coming up soon.
A Few Other Considerations:
Stites & Associates operates a research laboratory in Brighton, CO. One question that comes up is, “What analyses do you do there?” The answer is simply, “Whatever we need to support our main business activities.” We do not intend to do routine analytical work. In many cases that work can be done better at commercial or client laboratories. Occasionally something truly special is needed. Specialty testing is not very practical at commercial or even client laboratories. This is when Stites & Associates will set up to do an analytical project in-house. Historically we have been doing GC/MS, Cyclic Voltammetry and Optical Microscopy at the Brighton laboratory. This laboratory is currently being expanded, but I will talk more about that in another blog.
And finally, it is a mistake to think of Stites & Associates as a single person operation. I have been lucky in that I have developed a large network of subject matter experts. These include experts in the following areas:
I can call on these subject matter experts as needed to create a team of experts to do the project.
I hope this clarifies what Stites & Associates does. If you still have questions or would like more information feel free to shoot me an email. I’m always glad to hear from colleagues, associates, investigators, business persons and the genuinely curious – especially from exotic places.