1.2. The 11^th Royal Australian Chemical Institute Convention

(The information below has been provided by G.Salem)

The Division of Chemical Education is one of ten divisions to be represented at the 11^th Royal Australian Chemical Institute Convention to be held in Canberra at The Australian National University on 6 ­ 11 February, 2000. The theme of the convention is ‘Chemistry into the New Millennium’. Convention plenary speakers include: Professor Ben Selinger, Professor Peter Cullen, Professor Hubert Schmidbaur, Professor Robin Clark and Professor Ulrich Suter.

The Division of Chemical Education plans to hold a full five-day program at the convention. Themes for the program include ‘Green Chemistry’ (jointly with the Environment Division), ‘Flexible Delivery of Chemistry Programs’, ‘Chemistry Olympiad in the New Millennium’, ‘Chemical Education in the New Millennium’ and ‘New Innovations in the Teaching of Chemistry’. Session speakers include: Professor Colin Raston, Professor Ron Van Santen, Dr Colin Grant, Professor Bob Cooke, Professor Richard Russell, Dr Susan Cumming, Professor Ian Rae and Professor John Dearn.

The session lectures will typically be held in the morning with symposia consisting of short oral presentations to be given by speakers chosen from interested registrants. If you are interested in contributing to any of the afternoon symposia or in running an afternoon workshop based on one of the above themes, please contact Dr Geoff Salem by email (Geoff.Salem@anu.edu.au). Dr Jenny Jones will be running a workshop entitled ‘Captivating Chemistry’ as part of the program.

Further details on the Division of Chemical Education or Convention programs can be found at the convention web site (http://www.11RACIC.conf.au). The deadline for abstracts is 8 October 1999 and for registration 30 November 1999. See you there!

Please note:

(a) the official registration and a call for papers were included with the August mailout of Chemistry in Australia.

(b) meeting of the RACI Division of Chemical Education Standing Committee will be held during the Convention at 5.00 pm, Thursday 10 Feb., 2000 and the Divisional General Meeting will be at 2.00 pm, Friday 11 Feb., 2000.

1.3. Other Conferences

• 16 International Conference on Chemical Education, 6-11 August 2000, Budapest, Hungary.
• Pacifichem 2000, December, 2000, Honolulu, Hawaii.
• IUPAC 2001, Brisbane, July, 2001. Prof, Brynn Hibbert (b.hibbert@unsw.edu.au) is coordinating the Computers in Chemistry segment and has invited the Division to be involved in the "Chemical education in the information age" theme.

2. News from the 31^st International Chemistry Olympiad

This year’s International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) was held at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand. The Australian team continued an eight year tradition, with every member of the team winning a medal. The medal haul was one bronze and three silver medals placing Australia eleventh overall from fifty-one competing nations. Yet another remarkable achievement by our chemistry olympians. The four medallists were as follows:

• Anthony Phillips (Silver medal) - Hale School, Wembley Downs, WA.
• James Andrewartha (Silver medal) - Christ Church Grammar School, Claremont, WA.
• Kieran Rowe (Silver medal) - Anglican Church Grammar School, East Brisbane, QLD.
• David Solomon (Bronze medal) - Christ Church Grammar School, Claremont, WA.

(Thanks to G.Salem for providing the above news item.)

3. CHEMEDA

Dr David Daniels (mailto:d.daniels@metz.une.edu.au) the current editor of CHEMEDA is desperately seeking articles for the journal. Your support will ensure that it remains viable as the official journal of the Division.

4. News from State Education Groups

The Division would like to include a News from the State Groups in this Newsletter. Would State Secretaries please forward any information about what is happening in their States to me (d.druskovich@cqu.edu.au) for inclusion in subsequent newsletters. This is the only way in which members across Australasia will be aware of what is happening in their discipline. The exchange of information will result in a stronger and more dynamic Division of Chemical Education.

5. Call for Medals and Citations Nominations

This is an official call for nominations for RACI Division of Chemical Education Medals and Citations.

The Medal recognises excellence in chemical education and the Citations are awarded in recognition of a significant contribution to chemical education. More information is available on the Chemical Education link accessed via the RACI Homepage.

Nominations close on Friday, 29 October, 1999 and should be addressed to:

Dr David Druskovich
Division of Chemical Education Secretary
School of Chemical and Biomedical Sciences
Central Queensland University
ROCKHAMPTON Q 4702
Tel: 07 49309612
Fax: 07 49309209
Email: d.druskovich@cqu.edu.au

Medal and Citation awards will be presented at the 11 RACI Convention in Canberra in February, 2000.