March 2022’s Newsletter

Posted on March 12, 2022March 12, 2022

Hello Orlando Section!

In the first bulletin of the year, we would like to bring to your attention a few important information:

Executive committee members: The members of the 2022 Executive Committee of the Orlando Section are:
- Chair: Denisia Popolan-Vaida
- Chair elect: Nicole Lapeyrouse
- Intermediate Past Chair: Duy Le
- Councilor: Darlene Slattery
- Alternate Councilor: Laura Session
- Treasurer: Van Quach
- Secretary: Pavithra Pathirathna
It is with mixed feelings that the Executive Committee announces that our 2022 Chair-Elect, Dr. Christopher Chouinard will be leaving Florida Tech for a new position out of state. While we wish him well, we will miss his enthusiasm and hard work for the section.
Executive meeting – Our local section executive meeting is scheduled on the second Saturday of each month from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM via Zoom. We would like to renew our invitation to all our members to attend the meeting. If you are interested in joining our meeting, please do not hesitate to contact us for zoom link and meeting agenda.
Travel awards – We would liketo remind you thatour local sectionoffers annual travel awards (up to 2 awards/meeting) for ACS student members to attend ACS local, regional, and national meetings (FAME, SERMAC, ACS National Meeting) to present their work. More details about the application procedure can be find on our website.

Chemists Celebrate Earth Week (CCEW): To promote the positive role that chemistry plays in the world, ACS established the Chemists Celebrate Earth Week public awareness campaign. This year, CCEW occurs on April 17–23 with the theme “he Buzz About Bugs: Insect Chemistry”. The Orlando Section participates in the following activities:
- Distributing CCEW 2022 Celebrating Chemistry: Celebrating Chemistry is designed to engage and educate children ages 9–12 (Grades 4–6) in the basic principles of chemistry. The publication is available in English and Spanish and can be found on our website. We encourage you to share the publication to anyone who may be interested.
- 2022 Illustrated Poem Contest: The Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) is hosting an illustrated poem contest for K-12 students. Entries must be sponsored by a local school or community group for verification purposes. The contest deadline is Sunday, April 24, 2022 at 11:59 PM Eastern. The submissions should be emailed to submission@orlandoacs.org. The theme of this year’s contest is “The Buzz About Bugs: Insect Chemistry.” One winner for each category will be recognized with a monetary ($ 50) award. The teacher of each winner will also be awarded with funding ($100) for classroom supplies. Please visit our website or contact Dr. Duy Le (submission@orlandoacs.org) for more information. Winners of the Orlando Section’s Illustrated Poem Contest will advance to the National Illustrated Poem Contest for a chance to be featured on the ACS website and win prizes! We encourage you to share the Flyer with K12’s students and teachers that you may know and to spread the message via social media.
- Participating in Central Florida Earth day: We have secured our presence in Central Florida Earth day at Lake Eola (on April 23rd, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM). In this event, we will distribute merchandises, materials about the Earth Day and perform chemistry demonstrations. Dr. Titel Jurca (UCF, titel.jurca@ucf.edu) will lead this event. Please contact him if you are interested in volunteer for this event.

We are seeking volunteers: We are actively seeking volunteers to participate/lead our local section’s activities and be appointed to several committees: Earth Day outreach, National Chemistry Week, Senior Chemists, Younger Chemists, Webmaster… Contact us if you are or know someone who is interested.
Subscribe to our community page, follow our facebook page, and check out our website for updated news, activities of our local section.

Best wishes,
Dr. Denisia Popolan-Vaida
Chair of the Orlando Section of the ACS
On behalf of the Orlando Section executive committee

2022 Student Travel Awards

Posted on March 12, 2022March 12, 2022

To encourage participation of students in local, regional, and national conferences organized by the American Chemical Society and its affiliates and to create opportunities for students to enhance their scientific experiences and networking, the Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society offers travel awards to students who are in need of financial supplement for their conference participations.

The awards will be given to selected students who participate in the Florida Annual Meeting and Exposition (FAME), the Southeastern Regional Meeting of The American Chemical Society (SERMACS), or the ACS National Meeting & Exposition. For each conference, up to two students will receive awards of up to $150, $250, or $500, respectively.

To apply, student applicant needs to prepare an application package (a single PDF file) that includes the following:

Brief introduction of applicant
Proof of acceptance to conference (acceptance of abstract)
Brief explanation of why travel award from the Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society is necessary (especially those whose research projects are federal/industrially/privately funded)
Contact information of advisor (The award committee will request a statement for advisor indicating appropriate use of the travel award to registration, lodging, and/or travel expenses).

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis up to one month before the conference, so early submission is encouraged. Application package should be sent via email to Awards Committee Chair (Dr. Darlene Slattery, dslattery1@cfl.rr.com). The committee will select awardees mainly based on applicant’s financial needs and date of application. Novelty and impact of research project is a bonus criterion.

2022 CCEW – Celebrating Chemistry

Posted on March 12, 2022March 12, 2022

Celebrating Chemistry is designed to engage and educate children ages 9–12 (Grades 4–6) in the basic principles of chemistry. The publication is available in English and Spanish.

Download the issue in English (PDF)
Descargar en Español (PDF)
Word Search Solution (PDF)

2022 CCEW Illustrated Poem Contest: The Buzz About Bugs: Insect Chemistry

Posted on February 27, 2022March 16, 2022

The Orlando Local Section of the American The Orlando Local Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) is hosting an illustrated poem contest for students in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Entries must be sponsored by a local school or community group for verification purposes.

Contest_Deadline:	Sunday, April 24, 2022 at 11:59 PM Eastern
Local Prizes:	One winner will be awarded ($50) for each of the flowing categories: Grades K-2 Grades 3-5 Grades 6-8 Grades 9-12 The teacher who guided the winner will receive ($100) funding for classroom supplies.
Local Contact:	Duy Le (CCEW coordinator, submission@orlandoacs.org)
Submission:	Email Illustrated poem and submission form to submission@orlandoacs.org

Winners of the Orlando Local Section’s Illustrated Poem Contest will advance to the National Illustrated Poem Contest for a chance to be featured on the ACS website and to win prizes!

Write and illustrate a poem using the CCEW theme, “The Buzz About Bugs: Insect Chemistry.” Your poem must be no more than 40 words and in the following styles to be considered:

HAIKU – LIMERICK – ODE – ABC POEM – FREE VERSE – END RHYME – BLANK VERSE

Possible topics related to the CCEW 2021 theme include: Entomology, Eating Insects, Insect Molecules, Insect Bites, Pollination, Pollinators

Entries will be judged based upon:

Artistic Merit – use of color, quality of drawing, design & layout
Poem Message – fun, motivational, inspiring about yearly theme
Originality Creativity – unique, clever and/or creative design
Neatness – free of spelling and grammatical errors

Contest rules:

·   All poems must be no more than 40 words, and in one of the following styles to be considered: Haiku, Limerick, Ode, ABC poem, Free verse, End rhyme, and Blank verse.
·   Entries are judged based upon relevance to and incorporation of the yearly theme (The Buzz about Bugs: Insect Chemistry), word choice and imagery, colorful artwork, adherence to poem style, originality and creativity, and overall presentation.
·   All entries must be original works without aid from others. Physical drawings may be scanned or captured via camera and submitted to the online form. Illustrations may be created using crayons, watercolors, other types of paint, colored pencils, or markers.
·   The illustration may also be electronically created by using a digital painting and drawing app on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. If the illustration is created using a digital painting or drawing app, the name of the program must be included on the entry form.
·   The text of the poem should be easy to read and may be typed before the hand-drawn or digital illustration is added, or the poem may be written on lined paper, which is cut out and pasted onto the unlined paper with the illustration.
·   No clipart or unoriginal images can be used.
·   Only one entry per student will be accepted.
·   Students must be sponsored by a school or another sponsoring group (e.g. Homeschool Association, Boys and Girls Club, Scout Troop, 4-H, etc.).
·   All illustrated poems and/or digital representations of the poems become the property of the American Chemical Society.
·   Acceptance of prizes constitutes consent to use winners’ names, likenesses, and entries for editorial, advertising, and publicity purposes.

Download this flyer and Submission Form

Examples (2021 National winners)

2021 Annual Awards Banquet

Posted on December 30, 2021December 10, 2022

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The 2021 Annual Awards Banquet of the ACS Orlando Local Section was held on December 4th, 2021 at the 310 Lakeside restaurant (Downtown Orlando) to recognize its award winners, and, in the meantime, to celebrate its 30 year anniversary.

ecoSPEARS’ co-founders win the 2021 Outstanding Entrepreneur award

Posted on December 23, 2021December 27, 2021

Orlando Local Section of the ACS presents its 2021 Outstanding Entrepreneur Award to Sergie Albino and Ian Doromal, the co-founders of ecoSPEARS.

The Orlando Local Section of the ACS awarded for the first time it’s Outstanding Entrepreneur Award* to Sergie Albino and Ian Doromal, the co-founders of ecoSPEARS. During our visit to their facility, ecoSPEARS discussed its plans and introduced us to their chemist.

In 2017, Sergie and Ian founded ecoSPEARS after licensing the Sorbent Polymer Extraction And Remediation System (SPEARS) from NASA. The technology was first invented at the Kennedy Space Center by Dr. Jackie Quinn to remove toxins like PCBs from the environment.

ecoSPEARS has since focused on becoming a cleantech provider of green remediation technologies by improving on the original design and developing its own proprietary reagent for containing the toxins and leveraging other technologies to destroy them.

2021 has been a good year for ecoSPREARS:

Sergie was named Orlando Business Journal’s 2021 CEO of the Year
ecoSPEARS is one of the top 50 honorees for the 11th Annual GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch
the company was selected by Excelon for Climate Change Investment, And selected by the PortXL- Port & Maritime Accelerator, in The Netherlands
first runner up winner at the June 2021 Space Florida’s Aerospace and Innovation Forum
top three finalist in the “better Environment” category at the World Food Forum Startup Innovation Awards in partnership with Extreme Tech Challenge
the company was featured in a World Economic Forum article on how NASA technology has been used to help life on earth
it was cited in the April 2021 International Pollutants Elimination Network report on non-combustible technology for persistent organic pollutants.

ecoSPEARS shows us how Central Florida chemical enterprises help make this world better. All this is made possible because individuals such as Sergie Albino and Ian Doromal decided to bring chemical discoveries to market.

* The Section determined during its 2020 Strategic Review there was room to increase its engagement with the private sector. The creation of an Outstanding Entrepreneur/Employer Award helps us 1) recognize the full spectrum of the chemical enterprise, and 2) celebrate the success of those who bring to market the discoveries that otherwise would remain in the laboratory AND OF THOSE who create jobs for chemists and chemical engineers.

Professional Development Grants and Other Support for High School Chemistry Educators

Posted on December 7, 2021December 8, 2021

ACS is now accepting applications for the ACS-Hach Professional Development Grants! These grants of up to $1,500 are intended to support high school chemistry teachers as they identify and pursue opportunities that can advance their professional development and enhance the teaching and learning of chemistry in the classroom. Click here to learn more, and apply today ! Deadline for applications is January 21, 2022.

In addition to the Professional Development Grants, several other ACS-Hach Programs provide financial support for future and current high school chemistry teachers, carrying on the mission of the Hach Scientific Foundation Endowment to improve high school chemistry education and support the growth of chemistry teachers at the high school level:

ACS-Hach Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Scholarship – provides financial support of up to $6,000 for full-time study and up to $3,000 for part-time study for chemistry graduates with limited work experience to obtain a master’s degree in education or teacher certification in chemistry. Deadline for applications is April 1, 2022.

ACS-Hach Second Career Teacher Scholarship – provides financial support of up to $6,000 for full-time study and up to $3,000 for part-time study for chemistry professionals to obtain a master’s degree in education or teacher certification in chemistry. Deadline for applications is April 1, 2022.

ACS-Hach Land Grant Teacher Scholarship – provides financial support of up to $10,000 for full-time study to obtain a chemistry undergraduate degree and chemistry teaching credentials at one of our 72 partner institutions. Contact participating universities directly for application details.

ACS-Hach High School Chemistry Classroom Grant – grants of up to $1,500 are available for high school chemistry teachers to use to cover basic classroom or laboratory needs, fund professional development experiences, or support innovative ideas in chemistry education. Application scheduled to open February 1, 2022.

Visit the ACS-Hach Programs home page for complete details about all these programs.

This post is reproduced from the newsletter: Chemistry Educator Grants & Scholarships | ACS Matters | December 7, 2021

Fast or Slow, Chemistry Makes It go – 2021 National Chemistry Week

Posted on December 5, 2021January 25, 2022

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“FAST or SLOW, Chemistry Makes It Go” event was held at the Orlando Science Center on October 23^rd. This effort was led by Dr. Denisia Popolan-Vaida (UCF) and volunteers. Volunteers performed demo/hands-on experiments, which were chosen to fit the National Chemistry Week theme. They also discussed the importance of chemistry in our daily life. There are total of 13 demo/hands-on experiments that were performed by the UCF and FIT faculty and students (5 faculty and 17 students). According to the Orlando Science Center, over 300 kids and adults visited our event. Participant demographics included K-12 students, college students, K-12 teachers, parents, and grandparents.

This event demonstrates our ability to establish collaboration with other organizations. We have managed to get ACS Student Chapter at UCF, Orlando Science Center, University of Central Florida (faculty and students), Florida Institute of Technology (faculty and students) involved in the Section.

2022 US National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO)

Posted on December 1, 2021December 5, 2021

The Orlando section will be participating in the 2022 US National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO). The primary goals of this program are to stimulate interest and achievement in chemistry among high school students throughout the United States and to provide recognition of outstanding young chemistry students, teachers, and schools.

Students competing in the USNCO are eligible to be selected as members of the United States team for the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO). Since 1984, the United States has sent a team of four students to compete with nations around the world at IChO. The students participate in both theoretical and laboratory examinations over several days. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded to the best performers and the IChO provides students the opportunity to interact with their peers from other countries.

It is the responsibility of the Orlando section to nominate students from the local area to take the USNCO national examination. To identify these students, the Orlando section is conducting a preliminary screening of students through the high school chemistry faculty in our area. The exam, taking place anytime during March, is done in the high school chemistry classes organized by the high school instructors for nominated students. Exams will be sent to the high school instructors in early February. Exam answer sheets must be emailed or mailed to our USNCO coordinator by March 31, 2022.

Ten (10) students (maximum of 2 students from each high school) will be chosen, based on the local exam’s scores, to take part in national exam. Students will be notified in early April if they are selected. Part I (multiple choice, broad chemistry topics) of the 2022 USNCO National Exam will be administered virtually. Part II (problem solving, chemical theories and models) will be on-paper exam. A decision about the laboratory portion of the National Exam (Part III) will be made by the end of February 2022. Students can view past exams at www.acs.org/olympiad to prepare for the exam.

All students who participate will be recognized and presented with a certificate and pin. The top 150 students will receive recognition for outstanding performance at the national level. The 20 top scoring students from the National Exam undergo rigorous training a Study Camp. Based on their performance, four students are chosen to represent the U.S. at the 54^th IChO, which will be organized by China on July 10-20, 2022. Date and format of Study Camp will be announced at www.acs.org/olympiad around March 15, 2022.

The Orlando Section’s executive committee will consider to sponsor travel cost for our local students to participate Study Camp. The students will also be honored at the local section’s Annual Award Banquet. The local Orlando section hopes this recognition and support will stimulate interest in chemistry and promote a positive attitude toward chemistry.

Dr. Mary Roslonowski has been appointed the USNCO coordinator for this area. We encourage you to nominate students from your school to this competition by notifying Dr. Roslonowski on or before Jan 30, 2022. If you have any questions, please contact her at 321-243-6198 or via email at mroslonowski@htes.org.

2022 Orlando Section Officers

Posted on November 20, 2021April 3, 2023

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE	OFFICER	TELEPHONE
Chair:	Denisia Popolan-Vaida	407-823-1537
Chair Elect:	Nicole Lapeyrouse	407-823-0386
Immediate Past Chair:	Duy Le	407-666-8198
Treasurer:	Van Quach	—
Secretary:	Pavithra Pathirathna	321-674-7561
Councilor & Section Historian:	Darlene Slattery	321-632-2535
Alternate Council Member:	Laura Sessions	407-582-7138
CCEW Coordinator	Duy Le	407-666-8198
NCW Coordinator	Denisia Popolan-Vaida	407-823-1537
Younger Chemists Committee	Mohammed Muzammil Nishar Ahmed	321-368-4129
OUTREACH COMMITTEE
Chair:	—	—
Co-chair:	—	—
COMMUNICATIONS TEAM
Chair:	Michel Johnson	—
Webmaster:	Duy Le	—
CHEMISTRY OLYMPIAD Coordinator	Mary C. Roslonowski	321-243-6198
AWARDS COMMITTEE Chair	Darlene Slattery	321-632-2535
NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE Chair	Laura Sessions	321-674-8173
SERMACS COMMITTEE
General Co-Chair	Christopher Chouinard	321-674-8173
General Co-Chair	Chris Avery
Program Chair	Titel Jurca
Exposition Chair	Michel Johnson
*Click on name to send an officer an email