Background
A contract testing laboratory ran standard analytical tests for industrial clients using validated, published methods. A client asked whether the lab could test a material class outside the range any existing validated method was designed to cover.
The Challenge
No accredited method existed for the material at the required sensitivity and matrix conditions. The lab needed to determine whether a reliable, repeatable test method could be developed at all, not just tune an existing one.
Technological Uncertainty
It was not known in advance whether the interference from the sample matrix could be resolved using existing detection techniques, or whether a fundamentally different sample preparation approach would be required.
Experimental Development
The team systematically tested multiple sample preparation and detection approaches, tracking recovery rates and interference levels across trials, and adjusted variables one at a time based on each round of results.
What Failed?
Two initial preparation approaches, both adapted from published methods for related materials, produced inconsistent recovery rates that could not be stabilized through calibration alone.
Technological Advancement
The team developed a modified preparation protocol that produced consistent, validated results, generating new method-specific knowledge not available in any published standard.
Potentially Relevant SR&ED Activities
- Systematic testing of alternative sample preparation protocols
- Iterative adjustment of detection parameters based on interference data
- Method validation trials to confirm repeatability of the new protocol
What Would Generally Not Qualify
Running the finalized, validated method on subsequent client samples is routine testing and would not itself qualify — the eligible work was the development and validation of the method, not its ongoing use.
Documentation
Lab notebooks recording each trial, raw data from failed and successful runs, and validation records comparing the new protocol against acceptance criteria would support this claim.
