Our Lab
Vogon Laboratory Services Ltd. is based in the city of Cochrane, Alberta, in the foothills of the majestic Canadian Rocky Mountains, about 20 km west of Calgary. Nearest air service facilities are at Calgary International Airport (YYC).
Developing and delivering world-class services that are recognized by international standards and guidelines. To be a laboratory enterprise providing value to our clients through excellence in test results and services.
Vogon Labs has maintained accreditation since 2008. Current accreditation in International standards ISO 17025:2017 through Standards Council of Canada (SCC).
Vogon Labs maintains strict client confidentiality. You can count on us to keep your privileged information confidential.
Our Lab
Ralph is an experienced Senior Chemist with a diversified portfolio in trace organic analytical chemistry. He has 20 years of lab experience in the federal government, has been working in private industry since 1996, and is the founding president of three incorporated laboratories, including Vogon Labs. He has performed and developed analytical methods for a wide range of target chemicals including pesticide residues in foods, human and veterinary drugs, pharmaceuticals and personal care products and other environmental contaminants in water, soil, food and feed and biological matrices.
He has extensive expertise in applications of GC-MS, LC-MS, GC-MS/MS, GC-QTOF and LC-MS/MS. His specialty is qualitative and quantitative analysis by LC-QTOF, a high-resolution accurate mass (HRAM) MS technique.
He is well versed in Mass Profiler Pro (MPP) for metabolomics, process investigations and sample comparisons at the molecular level.
He delivers in-house and on-site training courses in the use of LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS systems (QQQ and QTOF). He is also responsible for overall laboratory management at Vogon Labs (day to day operations, system upgrades and new instrument acquisitions) and performs method development and analysis for various qualitative and quantitative MS applications.
Ralph received his B.Sc. in 1976 from the University of Ottawa (Ottawa, ON), and is now a PhD candidate in Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary. He published his first science fiction novel “The Fifth Needle” and is contemplating the sequel (http://www.ralphhindle.ca). He is a member of the Association of the Chemical Profession of Alberta, the Canadian Society for Mass Spectrometry, a long-time contributing organizer to the Canadian Trace Organic Workshop, and is registered as a Professional Chemist.
Tracy owns the smiling face you will see when you first arrive at Vogon Labs. She is responsible for all Financial and Office Management aspects of Vogon Labs. She maintains efficient operation of the lab with proper scheduling and also looks after the ordering, shipping & receiving and many other “not in my job description” duties.
Tracy has many years of office management and sales experience, and was educated at Bow Valley College (Calgary, AB) and Ryerson University (Toronto, ON).
Kathy joined Vogon Labs in 2016 with a background in quality control in food manufacturing and drug analysis in blood and urine. She has performed and developed numerous analytical methods with a focus on Per- and Polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) and environmental contaminants, and is experienced with LC-MS/MS, LC-QTOF, GC-MS, and GC-MS/MS.
Kathy runs Vogon’s Quality control program ensuring the lab continues to meet high standards in laboratory accreditation and participation in internationally recognized proficiency testing programs. She holds a Professional Chemist designation and received her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry degree from the University of Calgary.