Meet the Innovators

Trent’s Mass Spectrometry Innovator: A Scientific Legacy

Dr. Ray March has come a long way from his humble beginnings – not unlike Trent University. In 1965,
Professor March took a chance by accepting a tenure-stream position at a newly-established Trent. Eighteen years later, his decision to join Trent and to pursue basic research resulted in the commercialization of a new, low-cost form of mass spectrometry technology known as quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer.

When combined with a gas chromatograph and a new desktop computer, and using a new method of mass-selective axial ejection of ions introduced by Finnigan Corporation, the user-friendly quadrupole Ion Trap Detector (ITD) instrument brought about a revolution in the field of mass spectrometry. Today, the 3D-quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer is used in almost every well-equipped university and research facility the world over.

Building a legend

Prof. March’s intense study of mass spectrometry began in 1972, during a year-long sabbatical in France, where he researched a new technique used to weigh the mass of ionized molecules. He became fascinated by the quadrupole ion trap, which had appeared in a patent by Wolfgang Paul (Nobelist, 1989), but was not available commercially, and its potential to replace larger, more labour-intensive equipment. He began a collaboration with fellow Leeds University undergraduate, Dr. John F.J. Todd at the University of Kent in Canterbury UK, which led to joint and individual research publications, student visits, seven books, and continues 40 years later.

Upon his return to Trent, Prof. March decided to build his own quadrupole ion traps with his students and workshop colleagues, Wayne King and the late C.G.S. Stuart. In 1989, Professors March and Todd and Dr. Richard Hughes co-authored the groundbreaking Quadrupole Storage Mass Spectrometry, the culmination of 15 years of research and the first-ever publication devoted solely to the theory and practice of quadrupole ion trap devices, which led directly to the creation of mass spectrometer technology used now in cutting-edge research.

Trent: a place for the meeting of the minds

From his office adjacent to the world-class Water Quality Centre at Trent, Prof. March today reminisces about his career as an internationally-recognized chemist and educator. Joining Trent in its infancy in 1965 had been a leap of faith, but he was attracted by the one-year-old university’s ambitious plans.

“I thought it might be worthwhile to be a part of the creation of a university,” says Prof. March, who was originally interviewed by founding president Tom Symons.

Prof. March built his research program over the years, starting with the first spectrograph purchased for him by the University for $3,000. He supervised a small number of Masters students working on theses, and kept in touch with his former colleagues around the world, most notably his own Ph.D. supervisor, Dr. John Polanyi, who would be awarded the Nobel Prize in 1986. Now the University’s state-of-theart
Water Quality Centre is home to 16 mass spectrometers, including two new ion-trapping instruments, supporting developments in the health sciences, environmental sciences, and the agriculture and food industries.

Taking mass spectrometry out of this world

Over the course of his career, Prof. March’s influence on the field of mass spectrometry has reached far beyond the labs at Trent. Most recently, to the far reaches of outer space. Ten years ago, a facsimile of the original quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer constructed by Prof. March was placed on the Rosetta “Comet Chaser,” which, on November 12, 2014, achieved its decades-long mission and landed successfully on the comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The Lander is now using the quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer to determine the chemical composition of the comet and isotope ratios for H, C, N and O. This information – never collected before – will expand our understanding of the universe and the creation of the earth.

Humbly speaking of the role he has played in this groundbreaking mission, Prof. March says: “It is all very exciting to have pioneered the construction and development of a powerful analytical instrument that has been included in the Rosetta project. I am grateful to my students who had faith to labour with me in pursuit of the unknown.”