Meet Lorenzo Copia: From Environmental Physics to Advancing Tritium Measurement at Hidex
September 09, 2026
This story follows the journey of Lorenzo Copia, tritium specialist and senior consultant at Hidex with extensive experience in liquid scintillation counting.
Lorenzo Copia began collaborating with Hidex as a Senior Consultant earlier this year, bringing with him years of experience in environmental physics, isotope hydrology and liquid scintillation counting (LSC). With a career centred on environmental tritium analysis, he now supports Hidex customers with one of the most specialised applications in LSC while contributing to application development and hands-on technical training. We sat down with him to learn more about the career that led him to Hidex and the expertise he brings to the company.
How did your career lead you to Hidex?
While Lorenzo's career has recently focused on environmental radioactivity, his first encounter with liquid scintillation counting came much earlier during his master's thesis. Working with environmental water samples as an Environmental Physicist, he gained hands-on experience not only with LSC, but also with other lab methods, such as, gamma-ray spectroscopy and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS).
After completing his PhD at Gran Sasso National Laboratory, Lorenzo spent a few years teaching physics and mathematics to high school students before continuing with scientific research.
That passion for teaching and sharing knowledge remains an important part of his work today, whether that be in supporting customers or facilitating training.
How does one become a tritium specialist?
Before his collaboration with Hidex, Lorenzo worked at IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, where he was responsible for the Tritium Laboratory within the Isotope Hydrology Laboratory (IHL). There, he specialised in measuring very low concentrations of tritium in environmental water samples using ultra-low-level liquid scintillation counting.
His role included leading the operation of a laboratory equipped with five liquid scintillation counters, overseeing tritium pre-concentration and measurement, and ensuring the quality of the analytical results. He also worked with carbon-14 and sulphur-35 as tracers for studying the hydrological cycle.
"It was a very rewarding international environment; I enjoy having that same atmosphere at Hidex, where we regularly work with customers and partners from around the world."
What does your work at Hidex involve?
At Hidex, Lorenzo’s role allows him to combine his scientific background with customer support, application development and technical consulting. His experience in environmental tritium analysis helps labs optimise their own measurement methods while supporting the continued development of Hidex's applications utilising liquid scintillation counting.
His work with Hidex LSC counters started during his time at the IAEA, when he was first introduced to them. This initial work led to a close scientific exchange with the Hidex team.
"The Hidex ULLA was a newly launched counter at the time, so we started from scratch - the goal was to identify the optimal counting conditions for tritium and then compare the performance with the Quantulus 1220 counter" Lorenzo explains.
Using a carefully prepared set of tritium reference standards, the researchers evaluated key performance characteristics including background, linearity, measurement accuracy and figure of merit (FOM). The results demonstrated the excellent performance of the Hidex ULLA and its comparability with the Quantulus 1220.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
For Lorenzo, one of the most rewarding aspects of being a senior consultant for Hidex has been the opportunity to combine years of research experience with helping customers solve practical measurement challenges.
His background as a researcher, laboratory specialist and teacher allows him to translate complex scientific concepts into practical guidance for laboratories around the world. Whether he is delivering training, supporting customers with tritium applications or contributing to new application studies, he enjoys helping researchers get the best possible performance from their instruments.
At Hidex, our expertise goes beyond developing innovative instrumentation - it also means sharing scientific knowledge and working closely with customers to support their research. Lorenzo's journey and collaboration reflects this commitment, strengthening Hidex's ability to provide customers with industry-leading application support and technical know-how.