Editor’s note: This post comes to us from Benoit Wastine from the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE/IPSL) CEA-CNRS-UVSQ in France.  http://www.lsce.ipsl.fr/en/

It’s been four years now that I’ve been working with Picarro instruments for greenhouse gas (GHG) measurements. Four years of fruitful and friendly collaboration. I remember in 2007 when Eric Crosson came to my lab to set up one of the first EnviroSense analyzers. At the time, Picarro was a “small”,  innovative company coming out with a new technology that made measurements precise, robust and simple. At that time we could feel with CRDS and laser spectroscopy that we were entering a whole new technological area. Four years later, there are no doubts that these predictions were true. Picarro is now a “big” innovative company, whose instruments are well known in the community and sold worldwide.

I was lucky to be invited to visit Picarro’s facilities in the Silicon Valley. This visit was also a wish to learn more about Picarro’s instruments and to share some feedback as an experienced user. Here I have to deeply thank all Picarro staff and especially Aaron Van Pelt who spent a lot of time introducing me to the Picarro technology. I had an exhaustive tour of Picarro’s world, from the R&D lab to  the production chain to the testing line.  Very impressive, I should say. As expected, Picarro answered all my questions. The unexpected part of my trip was the other tour that Aaron and his colleagues prepared for me… a journey through the Californian international cuisine… and it was great!  Mexican, Afghani, Vietnamese, Japanese, and American with the real burger. A blend of tradition and innovation... That’s the way it works.

For sure, I won’t forget my first trip to California. So guys, once again, thank you for your warm welcome and I hope we will continue to collaborate for a long time!

-Benoit