The Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS), an international community of more than 15,000 individual scientists, engineers, researchers and technologists from academic, government and commercial laboratories, has opened a European office in Brussels, Belgium. The SLAS Europe office becomes the Society’s third on three different continents, joining operations in Shanghai, China, and SLAS global headquarters in Chicago.

The Europe office is part of the SLAS Strategic Plan. Approximately 20% of SLAS’ global membership is based in Europe. To better serve these constituents, SLAS commissioned an extensive market research study in 2012 that indicated its European members held the Society in positive regard and were interested in taking advantage of its product and services offerings, especially if they were customized to European audiences and priority needs. The goal is to grow European membership and engagement levels.

“We take another major step toward fulfilling our commitment to enabling laboratory science and technology professionals around the globe to enjoy increased access to our full menu of programs, products, services and events,” said Jeff Paslay, SLAS president. “Our new SLAS Europe office is an essential first step in amplifying European participation to the 360-degrees of benefits available to SLAS members everywhere.”

Staffed by a team of three professionals, the short-term objectives for the SLAS European team include establishment of a Europe volunteer leadership team. Another priority is building alliances with complementary, mission-driven organizations that also serve the scientific technology professional community.