Speaking before about 150 international researchers in microchemical systems, Dr. Ronald Besser delivered a talk titled, Microreaction in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing. The second half of the talk described a Department of Energy-funded project in pharmaceutical hydrogenation being carried out with collaborators from Bristol-Myers Squibb, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, who were also co-authors on the presentation. The trend toward miniaturization of reaction systems for pharmaceutical applications has gained strong acceptance in the quest for rapid production of libraries of candidate compounds for the drug discovery process. More slowly to mature, however has been the implementation of microscale systems for the production of pharmaceutical compounds and intermediates. “ Microreactors seem like an obvious tool for this use,” Besser said, “since the most common reaction vessels are batch reactors which possess well-known limitations in heat and mass transport. Various reasons for delays in implementation exist, many of which are non-technical in nature, including regulatory issues.” The conference is the premier technical venue for work in the area of microchemical systems, and alternates between European and American locations. IMRET 8 was held in Atlanta in conjunction with the spring meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and featured some 200 presentations on the topic of microchemical systems.