March Society News
Membership
And the winner is…!
The Canadian Chemical News (ACCN) announces the winner of a Kindle e-reader — Michael Jansen, MCIC, of Toronto. The high school chemistry teacher’s name was drawn randomly from all ACCN readers who partook in an online survey in January. The survey was designed to assist the editorial team make further improvements to the magazine.
Highlights include:
- ACCN respondents are relatively young, with 60 per cent under the age of 50. They are very well educated, with about 65 per cent holding a post-graduate degree and another 30 per cent pursuing an undergraduate degree.
- ACCN respondents are researchers, engineers, technologists, chemists, product development specialists and professors. They are employed in a variety of sectors, including biotechnology, oil and gas and natural resources. A third is engaged in materials science.
- Readers are acutely aware of the role they play vis a vis the environment and are prepared to invest in technology with this in mind: nearly 70 per cent are considering the purchase of a hybrid vehicle.
- ACCN respondents look to the magazine to provide the latest in chemical sciences as well as international discoveries and advances while expecting detailed analysis of the chemical industry. They want more stories of prominent chemists, chemical engineers, researchers and innovators.
- Nearly half of respondents indicated that they want future stories to address green chemistry, renewable and clean energy as well as the history of chemistry. Readers also want information about potential employment and finding a job.
The response to the survey was outstanding and ACCN thanks all participants. We look forward to fulfilling your many suggestions and story ideas.
Recognition
Crystal competition sparkles green
High school students and teachers from across Canada competed to grow the best quality, largest and heaviest crystals in the annual National Crystal Growing Competition. A special category, “best green crystal,” was sponsored by Université de Québec à Chicoutimi in honour of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry. The evaluators were impressed by the final product: a good quality crystal with a lovely green hue.
This year, all crystals were grown using aluminum potassium sulphate. Reagents and prizes for the winning students were supplied by the competition sponsor Anachemia Science. Students were given from Oct. 8 to Nov. 12 to grow their crystals. Regional winners were selected, followed by national judging late last December.
Best Overall Crystals
First Place: Andrée Vigneault and Sarah Vigneault of École Mgr-Labrie, Havre-St-Pierre, Que.
Second Place: Mike Van Laren of Holy Cross Secondary School, Kingston, Ont. and Brandon Phelps, Trystin Hinz and Laurence Elder of A.Y. Jackson High School, Kanata, Ont.
Third Place: Judy Gagnon-Timmons of École Secondaire Natagan, Barraute, Que. Best Quality Crystal Myriam Fiset of École Secondaire Natagan, Barraute, Que. Best Crystal from Teacher Surinder Ahitan of North Albion Collegiate Institute, Etobicoke, Ont. Best Green Crystal Luxika Paskaran, Manpreet Jodgey, Sneha Skariah and Minija Somasundaram of Middlefield Collegiate Institute, Markham, Ont.
Upcoming Events
March 20–22, 2012
Canadian Oil Sands Network for Research and Development (CONRAD)
Water Conference Workshops
Edmonton, Alta.
conradwater.ca/conrad-conference
March 24, 2012
Southern Ontario Undergraduate Chemistry Conference (SOUSCC)
University of Guelph
www.chemistry.uoguelph.ca/souscc2012
March 26-28, 2012
Bioindustrial Innovation Centre International Conference
Sarnia, Ont.
www.bicsarnia.ca/national_conference/bicnationalconference.html
March 29, 2012
SCI/CIC Seminar and Awards Dinner
Toronto, Ont.
www.cheminst.ca/sci-awards
April 29–May 2, 2012
World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing
Orlando, Fla.
www.bio.org
May 26–30, 2012
95th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition
Calgary, Alta.
www.csc2012.ca
October 14–17, 2012
62nd Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference
Vancouver, B.C.
www.csch2012.ca
August 18–23, 2013 9th World Congress of Chemical Engineering (WCCE9)
Seoul, South Korea
www.wcce9.org
Correction
In the Canadian Society for Chemistry Board of Directors Nominations insert in the February issue of ACCN, it was incorrectly stated that Jeffrey Keillor moved in 2001 to the Chemistry Department of the University of Ottawa, where he holds a University Research Chair in Bioorganic Chemistry. In fact, he moved to U of O in 2011.
In Memoriam
Dr. Richard Bader, MCIC, 80, died Jan. 15, 2012 in Burlington, Ont.
Mr. F. J. Cooper, MCIC, of Gormley, Ont. died Nov. 24, 2011. 
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