Project 1
Supervisor: Dr. Arun Moorthy
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) is one of the most commonly used methods of chemical analysis currently employed in forensic chemistry and toxicology. The resulting measurements--chromatograms from GC and mass spectra from MS--can be leveraged to characterize the chemical composition of samples ranging from seized drugs to blood splatter. Given the numerous and varied applications of this technology, there has been significant research and development towards computational algorithms and tools that analysts can use to help work with these measurements; many of these computational tools are described with unique nomenclature that makes them difficult to compare across research groups. In this major research project, you will attempt to summarize the historical canon of algorithms employed in GC-MS analysis using a consistent and well-defined notation. If done well, this review and synthesis will allow us to better discuss the similarities and differences between these algorithms, and will motivate the development and testing of new software tools in mass spectral analysis—this will be a major contribution to the forensic chemistry and analytical chemistry communities. This project is well-suited for someone that is passionate about science history and communication, and would like to learn more about how algorithms and software are used in analytical chemistry. To learn more about work done in Dr Moorthy's lab, please visit: www.arunmoorthy.ca.