Orlando Section wins at the 25th Annual ChemLuminary Awards

Dr. Duy Le (UCF), Orlando Section webmaster, and Dr. Laura Sessions (Valencia College), Orlando Section Alternate Councilor are pictured with Mary K. Carroll, ACS President-Elect (right) and Dr. Lori Stepan, Chair of Committee on Community Activities (CCA) (left).

The Orlando Section received the ChemLuminary Award for Outstanding Community Involvement in National Chemistry Week at the ACS Fall 2023 Meeting in San Francisco. National Chemistry Week celebrates the importance of chemistry in everyday life. On October 22, 2022, about 400 attendees were able to participate in experiments related to the theme: Fabulous Fibers, The Chemistry of Fabrics.  The Orlando Section offered ten safe and exciting activities for attendees at our partner institution, the Orlando Science Center. This event was organized by Dr. Denisia Popolan-Vaida, assistant professor in the chemistry department at UCF, and supported by volunteers, faculty and students, from UCF, FIT, and Valencia College. The Orlando Section extends its appreciation to all the volunteers who made the event possible.

Edwin Davidson Barahona (Dr. Santra’s lab, UCF) and Kathleen Lugo-Charriez (Dr. Saitta’s group, UCF), celebrate after the award ceremony with Dr. Duy Le (UCF), Orlando Section webmaster, and Dr. Laura Sessions (Valencia College), Orlando Section Alternate Councilor.

Edwin shared that volunteering for the National Chemistry week ‘was a very enriching community engagement experience. I always enjoy any opportunity to share about chemistry and science with a diverse audience. This event allowed me to combine both of my passions and provide meaningful learning experiences to kids and young adults. Sharing chemistry knowledge with the participants and observing their sparked curiosity gave me a deeper appreciation of the importance of science. The collective teamwork done by the Orlando section and group of volunteers was incredible, and showcased the greater impact we can achieve working together to generate a positive and safe environment to foster scientific interest in the future generations.’

You can see pictures from the event here: https://orlandoacs.org/2022-national-chemistry-weeks-event-the-chemistry-of-fabrics/

Look for us at the Orlando Science Center again for National Chemistry Week celebrations in October 2023. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Denisia.Popolan-Vaida@ucf.edu.

National Chemistry Week’s event: The Chemistry of Fabrics

Join the ACS Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society and Orlando Science Center for a community event for National Chemistry Week and celebrate the importance of chemistry in everyday life! Learn about this year’s theme, The Chemistry of Fabrics, from UCF, FIT, Valencia College faculty and students with 10 exciting activities.

When: Saturday, October 22nd, 2022 (10:00 AM – 4:00 PM)
Where: Orlando Science Center

24th Annual ChemLuminary Awards: Outstanding Ongoing CCEW Event

Orlando Section accepting 24th ChemLuminary Award for Outstanding Ongoing CCEW Event.

At the 24th ChemLuminary Award ceremony on August 23, 2022, at the ACS National Meeting in Chicago, the Orlando Local Section received the Outstanding Ongoing CCEW Event award sponsored by Committee on Community Activities (CCA). This award recognizes a local section for an outstanding CCEW event that has been conducted for at least three years.

For more than a decade, except for 2020 thanks to the pandemic, each year, our local section participates in Central Florida Earth day to promote the positive role that chemistry plays in the world. Our events often attract hundreds of attendees to our tent for chemistry demonstrations and hands-on activities as well as discussion with volunteers.

This is the first ever ChemLuminary Award received by the Orlando Section.

In addition, our National Chemistry Week event at the Orlando Science Center is in the finalist of the Outstanding Community Involvement in NCW award.

CCEW 2022: Orlando Section at Central Florida Earthday

The Orlando Local Section took part in the Central Florida Earthday on April 23th, 2022 at Lake Eola (Downtown Orlando) to celebrate the Earth Week. This effort was led by Dr. Titel Jurca (Assistant Professor at UCF) and volunteers. The overall theme for our display was about “The Buzz About Bugs: Insect Chemistry”. Three posters were designed and used to support our outreach activity. The posters were used to facilitate discussion largely with teenage to adult age range visitors. The topics ranged from general facts/curiosities, specific applications to forensics, and a cross-over with materials chemistry and nanoscience and physics with regards to butterfly wings.

To engage younger children, we curated two activities. One was an arts and crafts station to create “chromatography” butterflies using coffee filters, water, and markers. This activity was very engaging with active participation throughout the day. Our second activity was a microscope set-up, as pictured below, and a collection of pinned insects donated from the University of Central Florida. This activity was perhaps our most popular with children of all ages and even adults often spending 10+ minutes looking at all of the structural features of the insects, learning about chitin, discussing color effects in butterfly wings, etc… Overall, the chromatography butterfly craft and the microscopy portion directly engaged and held a captive audience of over 150+ people throughout the day. Remaining passing engagement, discussion of posters/topics, presence of ACS in the community, and dissemination of pamphlets reached an estimated additional 400+ participants throughout the day.

The event began at 10 AM and ended at 4PM.

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Fast or Slow…Chemistry Makes It Go

Join the ACS Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society and Orlando Science Center for a community event for National Chemistry Week and celebrate the importance of chemistry in everyday life! Learn about this year’s theme, Fast or Slow…Chemistry Makes It Go, from UCF and FIT faculty and students with 15 exciting activities.

CCEW 2021: Orlando Section at Central Florida Earthday

The Orlando Local Section took part in the Central Florida Earthday on April 25th, 2021 at Lake Eola (Downtown Orlando) to celebrate the Earth Week. This effort was led by Dr. Titel Jucar (UCF) and volunteers. Unlike previous years which had hands on activities for children, this was limited due to CDC guidance for physical distancing. The overall theme for our display was about plastics and the environment. We devised a survey to engage the public by asking them what % of plastics they believe to be recycled.

The event began at 10 AM and ended at 4PM. We were hit with a major thunderstorm at 10:30 which lasted for nearly 40 minutes. The rain damaged our displays and bent our tent. The group of ACS student volunteers pulled through, salvaged as much as we could and we went on with the day. The combination of the storm, and the added strains of the ongoing pandemic likely limited our level of interaction with the public. Nonetheless, the overall event was successful and we were able to engage with the Orlando community.