Tag Archives: SERMACS

Student Travel Awards: Joint Meeting of SERMACS/SWRM 2025 (Deadline extended)

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Chemical Society (ACS) and its affiliates, and to create opportunities for students to enhance their scientific experiences and networking, the Orlando Local Section of the ACS offers travel awards. Since the Orlando Section is hosting the 76th Southeastern and 81st Southwest Joint Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Orlando from Oct 26-29, we are pleased to offer registration fees for six students to this meeting — three for graduate students and three for undergraduate students.

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

  • A brief introduction of the applicant
  • Proof of acceptance of the abstract
  • The abstract of the presentation
  • A brief explanation of why a travel award from the Orlando Local Section of the ACS is necessary (especially for those whose research projects are federally, industrially, or privately funded)
  • Contact information of the advisor (the award committee will request a statement from the advisor indicating the need for the travel award for registration, lodging, and/or travel expenses)

The application package should be sent via email to the Awards Committee (Dr. Laura Sessions, lsessions@valenciacollege.edu) by August 29 September 12 September 19, 2025, at 11:59 PM. The committee will select awardees based on financial need, with preference given to those who possess an active ACS student membership in the Orlando Section or its student chapters, those who have not received a previous travel award from the Orlando Section, and distribution among the colleges and universities in our Section. Novelty and impact of the research project are bonus criteria.

SERMACS/SWRM 2025 is looking for a Volunteer Coordinator

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The SERMACS/SWRM 2025 Conference is seeking a Volunteer Coordinator to lead efforts managing volunteers from local academic institutions. This vital role includes:

•             Assigning roles and responsibilities

•             Creating and managing volunteer schedules

•             Providing on-site coordination during the conference

This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to a major scientific event while building leadership and organizational experience. The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, proactive, and available to be on-site throughout the conference.

If you are interested in this role, please contact the SERMACS 2025 General Co-Chairs Christopher Chouinard at cchouin@clemson.edu.

Orlando Section Newsletter Summer 2025

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Greetings Orlando Local Section,

I hope you all have had a pleasant summer. As fall approaches the local section would like to make you aware of some exciting events and opportunities associated with our hosting the joint Southeastern and Southwest Regional Meeting of the ACS here in Orlando in October.

Your 2025 Officers
Chair: Brian Mosby bmosby@rollins.edu  
Chair-elect: Toufiq Reza  treza@fit.edu  
Immediate Past Chair: Stephen Smith stephensmith@fit.edu   
Treasurer: Van Quach quachv@seminolestate.edu
Secretary: Meghan McGreal mmcgreal@stetson.edu
Councilor: Darlene Slattery dslattery1@cfl.rr.com
Councilor: Laura Sessions  lsessions@valenciacollege.edu
Alternate Councilor: Nicole Lapeyrouse  nicole.lapeyrouse@ucf.edu

General Information

The 76th Southeastern and 81st Southwest Joint Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society will be in Orlando from October 26 to 29, 2025 at the Double Tree Orlando at SeaWorld. The Online Registration portal is now open and abstracts will be accepted until July 28th. Registrations submitted before September 19th are eligible for the Early Bird discount price. Please visit  https://www.sermacs2025.org/ to register and for additional details. A few important events are highlighted below.

Symposia and Workshops

In addition to traditional research symposia, the SERMACS/SWRM 2025 offers a number of workshops and symposia for chemists and chemical engineers exploring careers outside academia as well as for educators interested in preparing students for careers in the private sector.

– Career Pathways in Pharmacy Workshop. Through engaging presentations and interactive discussions, and hands-on experience led by industry and academic experts, attendees will explore a wide array of career paths, including clinical pharmacy, pharmaceutical research, healthcare administration, and more.

– Chemical Patents Workshop: Intellectual Properties for Chemists. Discover the importance and connectivity of intellectual property, innovation and entrepreneurship.

– Working for Yourself: Your Idea, Your Business, and Your Marketing Strategy. Ready to be your own boss? This workshop will help you determine if self-employment is for you.

– How to Start a Start-Up? How does one transform scientific research into a scalable, impactful enterprise? This symposium is designed for chemists, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty seeking to understand the fundamentals of science-based entrepreneurship.

– Industry-Academia Summit on Preparing Chemists for the Private Sector. This summit brings together industry professionals, founders, academics, and recent hires to share their best practices and expectations for equipping students with the skills and knowledge needed for success in the private sector.

– Chemistry at Merck: Informational Breakfast A broad overview of careers within Merck that leverage a chemistry background.  (For students and postdocs only. No professors or professionals. No advanced registration is needed)

Florida Local Sections Breakfast

There will be a breakfast held on October 26th at 8 AM . The Orlando Local Section would like to use this as an opportunity to gather together and network with other sections. You can RSVP for the breakfast while registering for the conference. We hope to see you there.

Volunteer Information

There are a plethora of opportunities to volunteer for the conference.  Volunteers will receive a complimentary registration, SERMACS T-shirt, and lunch on the day of their volunteer assignment. Volunteer applications will be accepted until October 1st and can be sent to sermacs2025@gmail.com . The application can be found on the Awards page in the Student Volunteer Opportunities box.  Please note all volunteers must be at least 18 years of age and are expected to abide by the ACS Volunteer and Participant Code of Conduct Policy.

Travel Awards

We  are pleased to offer registration fees for six students to this meeting — three for graduate students and three for undergraduate students.

Application Instructions:
To apply, students should prepare an application package (a single PDF file) that includes the following:

  • A brief introduction of the applicant
  • Proof of acceptance of the abstract
  • The abstract of the presentation
  • A brief explanation of why a travel award from the Orlando Local Section of the ACS is necessary (especially for those whose research projects are federally, industrially, or privately funded)
  • Contact information of the advisor (the award committee will request a statement from the advisor indicating the need for the travel award for registration, lodging, and/or travel expenses)

The application package should be sent via email to the Awards Committee (Dr. Laura Sessions, lsessions@valenciacollege.edu) by August 29, 2025, at 11:59 PM. The committee will select awardees based on financial need, with preference given to those who possess an active ACS student membership, those who have not received a previous travel award from the Orlando Section, and distribution among the colleges and universities in our Section. Novelty and impact of the research project are bonus criteria.

Academic Institution Recruitment Opportunity

Academic institutions seeking to recruit undergraduate and graduate students are invited to reserve a booth at the SERMACS/SWRM 2025 Grad Fair, which will be held on October 26, 2025, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Orlando at SeaWorld. Based on past attendance records, our regional meetings consistently attract a significant number of undergraduate and graduate students. We particularly encourage Graduate programs in chemistry and related fields (e.g. chemical engineering, pharmacy, pharmacology, etc…) to participate if they are looking to recruit new students. To apply, please visit https://www.sermacs2025.org/exposition.html

Sponsorship Opportunities

By sponsoring SERMACS /SWRM 2025, you have the opportunity to have your company logo and link seen by the approximately 2,000 anticipated professionals and students from the 14 states and Puerto Rico representing the Southeastern and Southwest regions of the American Chemical Society. Visit the sponsorship tab at SERMACS2025.org to learn more about the benefits associated with the different levels of sponsorship.

For additional updates you can visitour website, our facebook page, or our LinkedIn page.

SERMACS 2024: Communication Symposium

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The ACS Committee on Public Relations and Communications (CPRC) will sponsor a symposium at SERMACS 2024 in Atlanta October 23-26, 2024, titled “Innovative methods of communicating the value of chemistry to the public.” Please forward this email to your constituency and/or place on your local section or division web site.

We are particularly interested in hearing from students (undergraduate or graduate) who are involved in outreach or other communication avenues; the best student presentations will receive cash awards.

The abstract submission begins April 29, 2024; in the past the hard deadline was in the summer, about 6 weeks later. Students are not easy to contact during the summer, so if you know of any student groups that communicate the value of chemistry to the public, please ask them to write an abstract and submit through the ACS MAPS portal.

The SERMACS home is https://sermacs2024.org and most of the seven tabs contain information.

SERMACS 2025: Call to action

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Hello Orlando Section!

As many of you already know, we recently announced that the Orlando Section will be hosting the 2025 Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (SERMACS) in Orlando, FL on October 19-22, 2025. Although the meeting is over four years out, we have already begun the planning process and have lots to do! We are sending out this email to encourage our members to get involved in one of the following ways:

  1. Meeting Theme and Logo Contest – Calling on our creative folks! We would like to finalize a meeting theme/logo within the next few months. We want this meeting to represent the diverse science and culture of central Florida, and what better way to do that than to encourage our members to propose ideas for the theme and logo. We will also throw in free registration to the conference for the winner(s). Send your theme/logo ideas to Chris Chouinard (cchouinard@fit.edu) by Monday, May 31.
  2. Volunteer Opportunities – We are currently seeking enthusiastic volunteers to join the Planning Committee and help with to-do’s such as fundraising, meeting hotel/venue planning, and scientific symposia organization. We encourage volunteers from all scientific backgrounds to get involved!
  3. Attend a Planning Committee Meeting – We are currently meeting quarterly in 2021, with our next meeting tentatively scheduled for June. These meetings are open to anyone interested! Be on the lookout for the Zoom meeting info via email.

Please feel free to reach out to any of the Planning Committee members with questions, comments, or suggestions. We are looking forward to making this the best SERMACS meeting yet!

Christopher D. Chouinard, Ph.D.
SERMACS2025 General Chair

SERMACS2025 Planning Committee Meeting

Planning for the Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (SERMACS) 2025, which our section will host in Orlando, FL in October 2025.