SNIC ANNUAL REPORT 2013 1. Council Matters The 44 th Annual General Meeting was held on Monday, 25 th March 2013, from 7.00 pm to 8.00 pm at the Function Room, Level 3, Chui Huay Lim Teochew Club. The following council members completed their terms in the SNIC council in March 2013. Their positions were hence vacant and opened for election. President Position Honorary Treasurer Honorary Assistant Secretary Council Member Council Member Nominee Andy Hor Jiang Ying Sun Changqing Chan Sze On Hardy Karen Chong The following nominations were received for the indicated vacant posts for Year 2013 2015: Position Nominee Proposer Seconder President Andy Hor Su Xiaodi Xu Jianwei Honorary Treasurer Jiang Ying Karen Chong Leong Lai Peng Honorary Assistant Secretary All nominees above were elected unopposed. Sun Changqing Leong Lai Peng Chan Sze On Hardy Council Member Chan Sze On Hardy Dien Pandiman Peter Chan Ping Kwong Council Member Karen Chong Leong Lai Peng Luo He-Kuan The first meeting, the 328 th Council Meeting of the new council, was held on 7 th May 2013. The role of each council member and the tasks ahead were introduced. Two Co-op members were co-opted into the council i.e. Dr Peter Chan and Dr Luo He-Kuan.
The full composition of the 2013 2014 Council hence comprises the following members: President : Prof Andy Hor Tzi Sum Vice President : Dr George Lam Honorary Secretary : Dr Leong Lai Peng Honorary Assistant Secretary : Dr Sun Changqing Honorary Treasurer : Dr Jiang Ying Honorary Assistant Treasurer : Dr Ng Kai Ling Council Members : Prof Hardy Chan Dr Karen Chong Siew Ling Dr Dien Pandiman Dr Xu Jianwei Co-Op Members : Dr Peter P.K.Chan Dr Luo He-Kuan Four council meetings were held in the period of May 2013 to March 2014. 2. Membership The membership status of SNIC as of 31 st December 2013 is as follows: Category No. of Members Honorary Fellow^ 6 Fellow^ 37 Member^ 169 Associates # 6 Student # 20 Corporate % 1 Total 239 ^Professional Membership; # Associates Membership; % Corporate Membership SNIC welcomed 31 new memberships since January 2013, out of which there were 18 Members, 5 Associates and 8 Students.
3. News and Activities in 2013 SNIC Awards 2013 Winners for the awards are announced during the AGM on 25 th March 2013. The INDUSTRY-SNIC Joint Awards in Chemistry 2013 were awarded to the following recipients: Dr Karen Chong for TUM-SNIC Award in Chemistry Education A/Prof R, Subramaniam for TUM-SNIC Award in Chemistry Education Prof Lee Hian Kee for HYFLUX-SNIC Award in Environmental Chemistry Prof Lu Yixin for GSK-SNIC Award in Organic Chemistry The three SNIC-Joint awards are offered annually to recognize exceptionally outstanding achievements in the respective disciplines of chemical sciences. Industry-SNIC Award 2014 was opened for nomination in March 2013. The deadline for the submission was November 2013.
Singapore and International Chemistry Olympiad The Singapore Chemistry Olympiad was held in partnership with National University of Singapore in 2013. Four students were selected to represent Singapore for the International Chemistry Olympiad. Results of 45th International Chemistry Olympiad in Moscow (15-24 July 2013), Russia are as follows: 1 Chua Anlong NUS High School of Maths and Science Gold 2 Cao Yuxin Raffles Institution Gold 3 Lin Yongjie Raffles Institution Gold 4 Fang Haitian Raffles Institution Bronze
Singapore Junior Chemistry Olympiad (SJChO) Date Venue Date Venue : 6 April 2013 (Paper 1: Theory Session) : RI, NUSHS, Tanjong Katong Sec School, Coral Secondary School : 1 June 2013 (Paper 2: Practical Session) : RI, NUSHS, HCI and TJC A total of 52 schools sent around 2300 students to participate in the event. Round 1 of the competition is a theory paper held on 6 April 2013 where students are selected by merit to participate in Round 2. Round 2, held on 1 st June 2013, is a practical paper to be participated by students in groups of three from the same school. Special considerations to round 2 were given to schools with more than 10 participants and those required to complete a team of three for participation in Round 2. The Singapore Junior Chemistry Olympiad (SJChO) Award ceremony was held on Thursday, 27 September 2013 at 2pm at Breakthrough and Discovery theatrettes, 30 Biopolis Street, Level 4, Matrix Building, Singapore 138671, as the grand finale to announce the results of student achievements for the competition. Approximately 300 teachers and students from at least 30 schools and guests attended the event graced by Mrs Chuah Yen Ching, Director, Director, Curriculum planning and development, Ministry of Education. At the ceremony awards were given to top overall students, top individual scores for R1 and R2. Schools were also awarded for overall performance. Gold, Silver or Bronze medals were awarded to a maximum of 20% of total registered participants in the ratio of approximately 1:1:2 based on merit. Medal will only be awarded to those who meet the minimum/passing scores for R1 and R2. This year 53 students received gold and silver medals, and 107 students received the bronze medal. The next 15 to 20% were awarded Merit certificates. Certificates of participation were awarded to all other students. It is also worth mentioning that we received sponsorships for book vouchers from the Royal Society of Chemistry, Singapore Section which were given to the overall top 12 students. Past SJChO participant and Singapore s representative to IChO, Cao Yuxin was invited to share his experience in the Chemistry Olympiad he has attended and how it helped him with IChO in Russia.
15 th Asian Chemical Congress (15 th ACC) Date : Monday, 19 August 2013 to Friday, 23 August 2013 Participants : 1,738 participants Venue : Resorts World Sentosa Convention Centre, Singapore The 15th Asian Chemical Congress (15th ACC) was held from 19th-23rd August 2013 at Resorts World Sentosa Convention Centre, Singapore. The theme of the conference was Chemistry at the Centre of Molecular Science & Nanotechnology. The conference was organised by the Singapore National Institute of Chemistry (SNIC) and under the auspices of the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies (FACS). The 15th ACC successfully attracted 1,738 delegates from 48 countries, with the bulk of attendees coming from Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea. The 15th ACC also awarded travel bursaries to deserving poster presenters from developing countries. There were 4 Plenary lectures, 3 of which were delivered by Nobel Laureates in Chemistry; 24 Keynote lectures, 45 technical sessions for Oral Presenters, and nearly 500 Poster Presenters. There were also 3 categories of thematic lectures: i) Asian Rising Stars (51 speakers); ii) Pioneers from Asia (21 speakers); and iii) History of ACC (7 speakers). Other special sessions were also organised in conjunction with the 15th ACC, such as the 4th Asia-America Chemical Symposium (A2CS) on Advanced Materials, Singapore-France Merlion Workshop, Editors Forum, and the 1st Asian Chemistry Research Fair. An exhibition was also organised and comprised of over 30 booths.
4. Website Timely information was provided at the SNIC website www.snic.org. The website provided updated information for the upcoming events and information for the members of SNIC. 5. Events planned in 2014 & beyond The following events are in the pipeline for the forthcoming year: i. Singapore Junior Chemistry Olympiad (SJChO) ii. SNIC Family Day 2014 Prepared by, Dr Leong Lai Peng Hon Secretary Singapore National Institute of Chemistry