University of Calgary - Advanced Contract Award Notice / Notice of Proposed Procurement - Acquisition of Trapped Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry Technology Platform

The University of Calgary intends to procure a high-performance mass spectrometry platform to support a Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI)-funded research program focused on advanced lipidomics and the study of microbial adaptation and antimicrobial resistance. The proposed equipment will be used to perform large-scale, high-throughput lipidomics analyses on more than 30,000 microbial samples. The research methodology approved through the CFI funding process specifically relies on Trapped Ion Mobility Spectrometry (TIMS) technology integrated with Parallel Accumulation Serial Fragmentation (PASEF) to provide sensitivity, throughput, ion mobility separation, and reproducible collision cross section (CCS) measurements required to achieve the project's scientific objectives. Following a technical assessment of available technologies, UCalgary has determined that the Bruker timsTOF Pro 2 is the only known platform capable of meeting all mandatory technical requirements of the research program, including the integrated TIMS, PASEF, and CCS capabilities required for the approved methodology. No alternative solution has been identified that provides the combination of performance characteristics necessary to support the University's research objectives.