About ISI

We provide technical solutions to unusual problems for our clients. We seek out the current state of the art, and then use our in-house laboratory, sometimes in combination with our client's facilities, to develop solid, technically proven solutions to previously unsolved problems.

Our clients are industrial, commercial and private businesses that have come up against a problem that has no standard or packaged solution. Our clients range in size from single person consultancies to large multi-national firms. Most of our livelihood is based upon repeat clients. They have indicated their satisfaction with our work by continuing to request our assistance on an ongoing basis.

We have a wide range of skills and tools which can be applied to your problem. Having an in-house laboratory immediately at our disposal allows us to address many concerns quickly. The results of our laboratory simulations and experiments provide concrete support for our scientific opinions. As we have shown countless times, this combination of consulting expertise and backup data from the laboratory, combined with our ISO 9001 Quality System, ensures that our solutions are acceptable to regulatory agencies and are legally defensible. ISI has been continually registered to the internationally-recognized ISO 9001 standard since 1996. We were the first scientific research firm in North America to achieve registration to this quality standard.

We are located in Burlington, Ontario in the centre of the Golden Horseshoe. We have easy access to two international airports, major highways and to the U.S. border. We can easily be reached by all major courier firms, and with the present currency exchange rate, this makes ISI a particularly good value for our U.S. customers.

Our Staff:

The staff at Investigative Science combines over 100 years of scientific experience with training ranging from community college to Ph.D. in a highly qualified and motivated work force. The primary areas of our training are chemistry, biology, environmental sciences and biochemistry with work-related expertise in the areas of auditing, consulting management, organization and teaching.

Of our century of scientific experience, over half is hands-on analytical and field experience. Our staff has over 30 years of management experience, including project, company and laboratory management and over 30 years consulting experience. Since its creation in 1991, Investigative Science Incorporated has successfully completed more than 500 projects. 

Our Facilities:

Our laboratory and offices are housed at 1050 Cooke Blvd. in Burlington, Ontario, in the heart of the Golden Horseshoe.

The analytical laboratory at Investigative Science Incorporated is equipped with GCMS and HPLC systems along with traditional distillation apparatus, various classic extraction techniques and standard analytical equipment. We routinely employ a range of HPLC detectors including fixed wavelength UltraViolet, scanning UV, diode array, refractive index, fluorescence and conductivity detectors. We also have post column derivatization capability.

The laboratory is also set up for process simulations and pilot scale tests. We routinely carry out stability and degradation experiments for pharmaceuticals, soil bioremediation tests and prototype air pollution tests. Our forensic work includes a wide variety of physical and chemical tests on key evidentiary materials.

The field staff at Investigative Science are equipped with state of the art sampling equipment and a complete set of remote site camping gear. This includes field laboratory capability . The remote site gear is specifically designed to fit through the door of bush planes for fly-in work at sites with no road access.

Our Approach:

Investigative Science Incorporated employs sound strategies based on the scientific method to develop the solutions to the problems of our clients. The approach typically begins with a literature review to establish the current state of the art. This is then followed by the collection of results from laboratory experiments employing logical controls. The results and theory are then synthesized into a working solution for the problem.

As the ISO 9001 quality standard is customer-focused, the client is involved at all stages of the problem solving process. This degree of involvement depends on the client but typically consists of continuous updates from Investigative Science and meetings to discuss the details of critical decision points. 

One of the strengths of the ISO 9001 standard is that it requires a planned and documented process for the design of solutions. This provides the customer with an additional level of assurance that the process will be conducted according to an organized plan and within the agreed upon budgetary constraints. It is our policy not to exceed our price quotations unless the client requests that the scope of the project be expanded.

All Investigative Science projects are managed by one of the two co-owners of the company. The client, therefore, can speak at any time to someone who has decision-making authority and who is up to speed on the project details.