The Laboratory for Chemometrics (often referred to as 'the lab') is situated on the campus of the University of Washington, a University with about 35 000 students and 15 000 personnel, a real center of study and research where all kinds of scientific and other academic activities are practised. The University is situated North of downtown Seattle and west of Lake Washington and surrounded by residential neighbourhoods. One special attraction is University Way, also called 'The Ave' with its multitude of specialty shops and ethnic restaurants and the proximity of many movie theatres and other centers of cultural activity. Another nice feature of the University is the short distance to waterfront sites and parks for picnics and sports activities.
The Chemistry Department at the University of Washington has for many decades been situated in Bagley Hall, facing the famous Drumheller Fountain, a leftover from the 1919 World Exhibition. In recent years, the activities have outgrown the space available and other buildings around Bagley Hall are put into use as laboratories and offices. There are also plans for a new chemistry hall. The Laboratory for Chemometrics was one of the first to move into new premises (called the 'chemistry library' building), that are just now in the final stages of remodeling. They share this space with the Center for Process Analytical Chemistry (CPAC). More about CPAC later.
Bruce Kowalski started the laboratory in the early seventies (December 1973) when he became a professor and started sharing responsibility for his own research and graduate students. When, during a visit by Svante Wold in June 1974, the Chemometrics Society was started, Bruce started calling his group the Laboratory for Chemometrics. In the beginning Bruce Kowalski brought some of his students from Colorado State University with him and quickly acquired some local graduate students.
In 1984, CPAC, the Center for Process Analytical Chemistry was started as a National Science Foundation-sponsored research partnership between the University of Washington and 21 industrial sponsors (now their number is 51) with Bruce Kowalski and Jim Callis as codirectors and Deborah Illman as associate director. CPAC is a collaborative effort between academic researchers in the field of process analysis, including chemometrics and major chemical industries who act as sponsors and advisors for the different projects.