James Waters, industry pioneer and entrepreneur, had founded Waters Associates (WA) in 1958 in order to invent instruments for others. He worked with five employees in the rented basement of a police station. In 1961 John Moore required from WA to develop a 0.1 ml volume flow cell, which would enable him to develop an instrument using gel columns to analyze the MW of polymers (natural and synthetic macromolecules). After experimental work by Moore, followed by negotiations between Dow and WA and additional hard work to scale up the synthesis of the polymeric gel used in the columns, the invention of the GPC was completed, becoming a major breakthrough for WA.