Carlos Manzano's desire to improve analytical techniques available for identification and quantification of semi-volatile organic compounds brought him to Dr. Staci Simonich's lab all the way from Equador. His research focuses on the development of novel techniques for detection and quantification of PAHs in complex environmental samples using two-dimensional gas chromatography, a technique that allows us to increase the number of compounds that can be detected in one single run.   

Recently Carlos received a prestigious 2012 Student Paper Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS). He presented his work at a symposium during the 244th ACS National Meeting in Philadelphia. In the paper, Manzano reported on his research exploring the effects of using different gas chromatography (GC) column combinations to separate and identify polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sample mixtures. Manzano was able to identify 89 PAHs in one chromatographic run.