Scientific expertise when you need it most.
You already have your lab and your team. Labo-Secours steps in when the scientific need is real, but a full-time hire isn't necessarily the right solution : a technical problem, a specific project, a staffing transition, a method that needs improving, a compliance requirement.
Services offered by Labo-Secours
Scientific continuity during a staffing transition
When a chemist leaves earlier than expected, we help maintain essential scientific activities, document critical knowledge, stabilize methods, and support the transition until a successor is fully up to speed.
Scientific expertise without a full-time position
A hiring freeze, a budget cut, or simply not enough work to justify a permanent position doesn't make scientific needs disappear. We take on priority projects or problems so you can move forward, without the cost of a full-time position.
Instrument troubleshooting and optimization
ICP-OES, FTIR, particle counting, TAN/TBN titrators, viscometers. Diagnosis and repair when an instrument goes down, or simply a second opinion on a drift that won't go away.
Method development and validation
Development, optimization, and validation of analytical methods suited to your matrices and standards (ASTM, ISO), with the documentation to go with it.
Equipment selection and acquisition
Identifying the need, comparing technologies and suppliers, requesting and analyzing quotes, then supporting the purchase through to commissioning, for lab instruments, parts, or consumables.
Laboratory health and safety
Bringing health and safety practices up to date : identifying blind spots, reviewing procedures, and prioritizing the most urgent fixes.
Scientific communication
Writing clear summaries and reports for your clients or management, based on complex analytical results.
Training and knowledge transfer
Training tailored to the team's level, and plain-language explanations of the principles behind a method or instrument, so the people using them understand what they're doing, not just which buttons to press.
Scientific project support
An important project stuck in limbo for lack of time or internal resources? Labo-Secours can take it on under a defined mandate, from needs analysis through to delivery.
Concrete solutions, drawn from my career in the lab
Replacing an ICP-OES before a major breakdown
An ICP-OES critical to operations was no longer covered by the manufacturer, with no guarantee of parts or service. I led its replacement : selecting and purchasing the new instrument, arranging the lab setup, developing and validating the method for 24 elements in an organic matrix. Shortly after the new instrument went live, the old one broke down, which would otherwise have caused a major disruption to testing.
Transitioning between two FTIRs without losing comparability
I transitioned between two FTIR instruments while ensuring comparability between old and new results. I also developed a macro to make the instrument easier for technicians to use, then refined it over time to eliminate crashes during analysis.
An overlooked source of contamination, found and fixed
I replaced a particle counter and transitioned the method. Along the way, I discovered that the solvent used to dilute oil samples was itself introducing particles. I put a filtration step in place for the dilution solvent to fix the problem.
Simplifying a process, from the client's point of view
A graphic design project had been stalled for months. By combining several tools, including generative AI, I got the process moving again to a working design : labels for prepaid sample bottles. What seems obvious from inside a lab isn't always obvious to the client, and that's often where I can help.
The space between “no chemist” and “a full-time chemist”
Solving problems has always drawn me in, it's a big part of what led me to chemistry. Today's access to knowledge, digital tools, and artificial intelligence makes it possible to tackle a wider range of scientific problems, but always starting from solid training, a rigorous method, and professional judgment : these tools extend the reach, they don't replace the expertise.
I founded Labo-Secours because many companies have real scientific needs without needing a full-time chemist : a specific project, a method that needs improving, an instrumentation problem, an unexpected departure to manage, a regulatory requirement, or simply an outside perspective. That's the space between “we need scientific expertise” and “we have to hire a full-time chemist,” and that's largely where Labo-Secours wants to step in.
Depending on the situation, that means analyzing a problem and recommending an approach, or taking on a mandate through to a concrete deliverable. We help managers target the projects that bring real value and get the expertise they need to carry them out, without automatically creating a permanent position, whether that's to better serve their clients, reduce the risk of disruption, or meet applicable requirements, including those of the Ordre des chimistes du Québec or the CNESST.
Étienne Blais, M.Sc.
With a master's degree in organic chemistry, I led the operations of an industrial oil analysis laboratory in Sherbrooke : overseeing the lab team, prioritizing work, and processing more than 10,000 samples a year.
My experience was built in an industrial service lab, where oil analysis made up most of the volume : results have to ship, instruments have to work, quality checks have to pass, and problems get solved concretely, not just on paper. Labo-Secours extends that role on a freelance basis, for labs that need this expertise without a full-time commitment.
Before proposing a solution, I try to understand how the problem is actually experienced by the people who work with the equipment or the method day to day : a technically perfect solution that makes their work harder isn't a good solution.
- Education
- M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry
- Experience
- Laboratory team leadership, 10,000+ samples/year
- Languages
- French, English, Spanish
Have a scientific challenge to tackle?
Tell us briefly about your situation, and we'll be happy to get back to you as quickly as possible.
- [email protected]
- Location
- Sherbrooke, Quebec (on-site or remote)