The Senior Chemists Committee hosted a yoga and meditation event at the University of St. Thomas on Saturday, June 29, 2024. The session was conducted by Heartfulness.org. Ms. Roopa Naras who is a full time software professional and also a certified yoga & meditation trainer lead the chair yoga & meditation. Dr. Venkat Madabusi who is a fellow ACS Emeritus member and also a meditation trainer helped with questions the participants had. The program started with a few stretches followed by chair yoga & Heartfulness meditation. Participants discussed about how just a few minutes of meditation could help everyone perform better & help keep you grounded. The SCC hopes to offer more such sessions to ACS-GHS members in the future.

L to R: Reggie, Venkat, Roopa, Corrin, Catherine, Carolyn, Peter & Simha.

"Materials...is the story of our civilization."

- Dr. Ravindra Aglave, June 26, 2024

Dr. Ravindra Aglave of Siemens Digital Industries Software joined us to share how Siemens uses the concept of a digital twin in simulations to help develop new materials and address complex engineering challenges. If you missed the live webinar, you can still catch the recording on our YouTube channel!

We are excited to share that the Greater Houston Section has been named a finalist for this year's ChemLuminary Awards for the following categories:

• Most Creative NCW Celebration Using the Yearly Theme
• Outstanding Local Section Career Program Award
• Outstanding Performance by a Local Section - Large Size Category Award

The winners will be announced during the ACS Fall 2024 in Denver. The ceremony will take place on Tuesday, August 20, at 9-10 pm.

Thanks to all our volunteers for their hard work and dedication to the ACS and our section!

We are pleased to share that Amiee Modic was recently voted in as President-Elect for the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT). She will begin her three-year presidential succession journey July 1, 2024.

Amiee is a chemistry teacher at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart and an active member of the Greater Houston ACS section, serving on Education and Outreach committees (including NCW and CCEW), and promoting chemical education opportunities in the Greater Houston area and beyond. In 2019, she was honored as an ACS Fellow for her work in chemical education.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has announced the team that will represent the U.S. at the 56th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 21 to 30, 2024.

The members of 2024 Team USA are:

• Anant Asthana, John Foster Dulles High School, TX.
• Yufei Chen, University High School, CA.
• Yunyi Ling, Mongomery Blair High School, MD.
• Alice Liu, Marquette High School, MO.

The first and second alternates are:

• 1^st Aaron Wang, Conestoga High School, PA.

• 2^nd Yash Shah, Panther Creek High School, NC.
  

The ACS Greater Houston is proud of Mr. Anant Asthana of John Foster Dulles High School, who also participated in the 2022 and 2023 USNCO Study Camps before being selected for Team USA in 2024. Congratulations, Anant! We wish you best of luck in the international competition!

See the complete announcement here

Project SEED has commenced for 2024 with a start date of June 10 and an end date of August 5, 2024. We are excited to partner with Sam Houston State University, University of Houston and Houston Electron Microscopy, Stafford, TX. Below is the list of our current mentors and students. More news to come!

"I ask myself, and always tell my students, you should always ask "why do we care?" Because people are going to ask you, so you should be the first one to ask yourself."

- Dr. Raúl Hernández Sánchez, June 12, 2024

We were pleased to host Dr. Raúl Hernández Sánchez of Rice University for the first of our June seminars, as he shared some of his group's research on applications of novel macrocyclic arene complexes. If you missed the live webinar, you can still catch the recording on our YouTube channel!

The ACS-GHS Scholarship Exam for high school students was held on April 27, 2024, at the University of Houston. The exam was organized by Dr. Tai-Yen Chen, Associate Professor of Chemistry at UH. Thanks to all the teachers and students who participated in this year's exam and congratulations to this year's Scholarship Award winners!

2024 Winners - 1st Year

1st Place – Krish Jha

Carnegie Vanguard High School, Teacher Joshua Garcia

2nd Place – Alan Yao

Glenda Dawson High School, Teacher Andrea Buchelli

3rd Place – Krishna Harish

Elkins High School, Teacher Rolf S. Arvidson

Honorable Mention – Leetyan Chen

St. John’s School, Teacher Sarwat Jafry

Honorable Mention – Boone Roeser

St. John’s School, Teacher Roxie Allen

Honorable Mention – Kevin Hu

Clements High School, Teacher Caitlin Zuber

2024 Winners - 2nd Year

1st Place (Tie) – Cosmo Wu

Dulles High School, Teacher Katherine Coleman

1st Place (Tie) – Richard Zhang

Seven Lakes High School, Teacher Mayra Colombani-Acosta

2nd Place (Tie) – Benjamin Bian

Seven Lakes High School, Teacher Mayra Colombani-Acosta

2nd Place (Tie) – Vishal Sundaram

Elkins High School, Teacher Christopher Nguyen

3rd Place (Tie) – Charles Anstead

DeBakey High School for Health Professionals, Teacher Dina Adam

3rd Place (Tie) – Antonio Yu

Clements High School, Teacher Caitlin Zuber

Interested in taking the exam next year? Learn more about the Scholarship Exam on our awards page.

The annual Engineering Council of Houston (ECH)/Science and Engineering Fair Houston (SEFH) Banquet was held Monday, May 20 from 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm at the University of Houston. Students were honored for their scientific achievements state- and nation-wide over the 2023-2024 academic year. The keynote speaker for the event was Dr. Alan Rossiter, Executive Director of External Relations and Educational Program Development at UH Energy, University of Houston.

ECH/SEFH award recipients with Dr. Lionnel Ronduen (UH STEM Center, left) and Dr. Heather Domjan, Executive Director of the UH STEM Center (right).

Did you miss our May seminar with 2024 ACS President Dr. Mary K. Carroll? You can still hear Dr. Carroll talk about about her experiences with commercialization of aerogel materials. See what you missed on our YouTube Channel!