Category Archives: Updates

2013 Children’s On-the-Spot Poster Making Competition

A Better Life with Chemistry
Children’s On-the-Spot Poster Making Competition

February 11, 2013 8:00-12:00
Venue: TBA

Background

As we celebrate the Chemistry Week on 11-17 February 2013, the Philippine Federation of Chemistry Societies in cooperation with ten Philippine Universities is holding the third Children On-the-Spot Poster Making Competition on the theme “A better life with Chemistry”. This contest will highlight children’s view of the role of chemistry in our life. This is the first time this activity will be conducted nationwide. This activity aims to contribute to a greater public interest in and appreciation of chemistry, particularly among the youth.

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UNESCO IYCr 2014 Open Lab

UNESCO IYCr 2014 Open Lab

7-3 December 2014
Venue: TBA

Invitation

As you may be aware 2014 has been designated as the International Year of Crystallography. On behalf of UNESCO and the International Union of Crystallography I would like to invite several young Philippino scientists to attend the upcoming Open Lab on chemical crystallography that we will hold in Hong Kong in December 3-7.

The workshop is free and I will also waive accommodation fees for Philippine participants. There is also a limited budget to provide bursaries for travel support. 

This will serve as a workshop or tutorial school on the technique of single crystal X-ray diffraction. The idea is to give them experience of the powerful analytical tool for organic and inorganic chemistry, and also an opportunity to meet other young scientists from around the region.  If they would like to bring samples from your research for study we will be happy to work with them on this.

The attached files also contain a Registration Form as well as some initial information about the workshop. Please feel free to contact me for more details if required. Space on  the workshop is limited, but I am happy to guarantee one space to a participant from your department, and with one reserve, depending on how other registrations proceed over the next month. Although the course is aimed at young scientists we would like the participants from Philippines to already hold an academic appointment, to best ensure the value of the training is maintained within your university system.

Ian Williams
Professor of Chemistry
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Chair IYCr2014 Open Lab Hong Kong  

PS: The course is now 50% subscribed and there are about 15 places left; if anyone is interested please have them apply to me as soon as possible.

Attachments

OpenLab Poster
OpenLab Info
OpenLab Registration Form

Preparing Your Institutional Chemical Safety Manual Training Workshop

The Integrated Chemists of the Philippines
is pleased to invite you to attend the 2-day
Continuing Professional Education Training-Workshop on:

Preparing Your Institutional Chemical Safety Manual

Venue: Makati Palace Hotel, Makati City
Date: February 11-12, 2013

A Safety Policy needs a Safety Manual.

The ICP is pleased to invite you to this two-day training workshop which teach and assist participants on the preparation of their institution’s chemical safety manual. This training workshop will discuss regulatory requirements on safety and the benefits of having a manual. Each participant will conduct a chemical safety gap analysis in order to determine the status of their own institution regarding their safety practices, documentation and infrastructure.

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The Chemistry Department: Xavier University-Ateneo De Cagayan

Xavier University- (XU) Ateneo de Cagayan is a Jesuit institution situated in the city of bloom, blossom and boom—Cagayan de Oro City. Founded in 1933 by Fr. James T.G. Hayes, S.J., the first Bishop and Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro, its measly population of 17 students ballooned to the present day enrolment of 16,000, an authentication of the Jesuit’s commitment to excellence in education. XU’s mission of forming men and women of competence, conscience and commitment has made this Jesuit academic institution to serve robustly and imaginatively the pressing needs of Mindanao.

 

The College of Arts and Science of XU is one of the few institutions in Mindanao which offers the BS Chemistry program under the Chemistry department since the year 1982. Just this year, the BS Chemistry program has been granted Level IV accreditation–the highest possible level from the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU). With university becoming more competitive in terms of its faculty and facilities, XU’s Chemistry is coping with the trends and demands of the field of chemistry. Many of its faculty members are now masters and doctoral degree graduates from top schools in the country like the Ateneo de Manila University as well as universities overseas.

xu lab

The strength of the Department’s research effort is illustrated with the recent upgrades of its research facilities. The department has acquired the high-end instruments including Gas Chromatograph, High Performance Liquid Chromatograph, Atomic Absorption Spectrometer, UV-Vis Spectrophotometer and electrochemical instruments both for its undergraduate Chemistry program, faculty researches and for the external analyses accepted by the department through the CEARS – Center for Environmental and Analytical Research and Services.

xu aas best xu uv-vis

In addition to this recent instrumentation upgrade which offers undergraduate students a huge range of resources and facilities, XU Chemistry Department has an eye to be granted the Center of Development (COD) and eventually the Center of Excellence (COE) status in Chemistry in the very near future.

 

PACS Brings Back Junior Chemistry Congress

The Junior Chemistry Congress 2012, organized by the Philippine Association of Chemistry Students, Incorporated, was held September 29, 2012 at the Chemrez Room, Institute of Chemistry, National Science Complex, University of the Philippines Diliman.

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Seminar on Practical and Cost Effective Solutions to Laboratory Chemical Wastes (Part II)

It was in 2008 when the ICP held its first seminar on Chemical Laboratory Waste Management. As a result of this seminar, a number of laboratories initiated changes in their chemical waste management practices.  This seminar series have now come full circle and were speakers with the subsequent seminar, entitled “Practical and Cost Effective Solutions to Laboratory Chemical Wastes, part II”, which was held on October 24-25, 2012, at MetroClub, Makati.

Mr. Joel Ballesteros, PCO for UP Diliman Institute of Chemistry, and Ms. Lilia Molina, Head of the Analytical Services Laboratory at IRRI presented their respective programs and insights on chemical waste management. Rounding up the roster of speakers included Engr. Edwin Navaluna, Supervising Environmental Specialist of DENR-EMB and Dr. Veronica Migo, Head of the Central Analytical Services Laboratory of Biotech, UP Los Baños, shared the process for Hazardous Chemical Identification and the relevant laws applying to chemical waste management. Ms. Tess Cayton, former plant Manager for Bayer Crop Science and now a private Environmental Consultant, presented an overview of the best practices on chemical waste disposal as practiced at Bayer (Philippines), to comply with local regulations and national laws, in particular with respect to pesticides. And last but not certainly the least is Dr. Luerne De Sales, General Manager of All Wastes Services, Inc. (formerly Inchem) who presented how chemical wastes are treated in their facilities and Mr. Mark Castillo, an Applications Specialist of Merck Millipore, provided a review of innovations in chemical waste management.

The seminar was concluded with a workshop that involved practice exercises developed by Dr. Fabian Dayrit, on how to identify, estimate and classify chemical wastes based on procedures from laboratory exercises and analytical methods. There were 118 participants representing the government, academe, and industry sectors who were able to acquire valuable information and skills. Many were inspired to start and improve on their lab waste management in their own workplace. With the success of this seminar series,  ICP plans to bring the seminar to the provincial regions in the near future.  (Mutya Samonte)

 

Photos: Oath-taking and Induction of New Chemists

The Integrated Chemists of the Philippines (ICP), in cooperation with the Board of Chemistry, will conduct the Oath Taking for Chemists together with the distribution of PRC Certificates of Registration and Professional ID Cards to those who passed the September 2012 Chemistry Licensure Examination. The Top Ten examinees and Most Outstanding Schools will also be recognized by the Board of Chemistry.

 

Two Ateneans Bag National Awards

RA Ranola

Dr. Regina C. So and Dr. Nina Rosario L. Rojas both associate professors from the Chemistry Department at the University received a special award. Dr. Regina C. So, received an Outstanding Young Scientist (OYS) award given by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).
Dr. So’s contribution in the field of Organic chemistry is by designing and rapid synthesis of biologically important unique sphinganine-containing glycosphingolipid analogs used in elucidating the relationship between structure of glycosphingolipids and the type of immune response they generate.

While Dr. Nina Rosario L. Rojas received an Outstanding Scientific Paper Award for the paper entitled “A Partial Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) Library of the economically important red alga Eucheuma denticulatum (N.L. Burham) F.C. Collins and Hervey” which she co-authored with Paulina S. Aspilla, Anna Angela Camille B. Anto-nio and Giuseppe C. Zuccarello. The paper was published in the Philippines Science Letters in 2010.