North State Chemistry Group Launched
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 8, 2006
Joe Wills
530-898-4143
North State Chemistry Group Launched
Chemistry professors, teachers and students as well as working chemists will be gathering at California State University, Chico Friday, Nov. 17, to launch a North State subsection of the American Chemical Society (ACS), which organizers say will expand opportunities for chemists and introduce the public to the vital role chemistry plays in our lives.
The event features a dinner and a speaker, and is open to the public. It starts at 6 p.m. and will take place in Bell Memorial Union Room 210 on the CSU, Chico campus. Dinner will be $5 for students and $10 for others. Attendees need not be members of the ACS. For more information about the Nov. 17 event, contact CSU, Chico's Department of Chemistry at 898-5259.
Dieter Cremer, professor of chemistry and physics at the University of the Pacific, will be the featured speaker at the event. His topic will be "Nanotechnology: Is It Our Future or Just a Hype?"
The group will officially be known as the Northern California Subsection of the American Chemical Society. Currently, area chemists have to travel to Berkeley for meetings of the California Section of the ACS.
Don Alger, chair of the CSU, Chico Department of Chemistry, said the subsection will provide training and support to chemistry teachers throughout the North State, as well as new opportunities for research grants and public outreach efforts.
It's critical for chemistry teachers and students to hear about and share new research, Alger said. At the same time, he said, the meetings and events will not be restricted to chemists. "The talks presented at the meetings will be geared toward the general public," he said. "Our goal is to get as many people interested in chemistry as possible. Chemistry is increasingly important to the future of science and technology, and it affects people on a day-to-day basis."
Alger said the subsection will bolster the efforts of CSU, Chico's Student Affiliates of the ACS, which hosts chemistry seminars on campus and other events. Currently, CSU, Chico has 86 chemistry majors.
Alger, CSU, Chico chemistry professor Jim Postma and Butte College chemistry professor Anthony Wren were instrumental in getting the ACS subsection approved.
The American Chemical Society, founded in 1876, consists of more than 158,000 members at all degree levels and in all fields of chemistry.
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