October 2021, Vol. 11(9)

Highlights

• Committee to Participate in Strategic Planning Session for KACS
• Speed Networking Event Held Virtually
• JAWS Chem Webinar Access
• Cartoon Congratulations
• Early-Career Advice from Industry Leaders
• Chemistry Day at the Museum 2021 – Video Premiere
• Obituary for Thomas Houser
• KACS Calendar

Committee to Participate in Strategic Planning Session for KACS

Dear Members,

On the weekend of November 12-14, the committee listed below will participate in a strategic planning session for our KACS. This meeting will involve reviewing our mission statement and devising goals for our section for the next 3 to 5 years. If you know these people, please encourage them and give them any feedback related to your view of our section. Over 95 of our members have responded to our questionnaire that went live on Thursday, September 16. Thank you. We will use the results of questionnaire to guide us in our section’s future plans.

• Doug Williams, Treasurer and Project SEED Coordinator, Regulatory at Kalsec
• Lydia Hines, KACS Councilor, Newsletter Editor
• Nicole Burke, Discovery at Kalsec
• Hershel Jude, Past Chair, Hops at Kalsec
• Ed Thomas, Chair KACS
• Ben Maxey, Chair Elect, API compliance at Pfizer
• Blakely Tresca, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Kalamazoo College
• Sydney Collins, Student at WMU
• Tomasz Respondek, Scientist at Zoetis
• Luke Chadwick, Senior Scientist at Bell’s
• Rodger Nahas, VP of R&D Kalsec
• Carl Stachew, Pfizer

I look forward to the November Strategic Planning Meeting and will report our output to you as soon as it is available.

Take care,
Ed Thomas

Speed Networking Event Held Virtually

By Blakely Tresca

Future chemists and industry mentors gathered virtually on Sept 28th for the 5th KACS Speed Networking night in Zoom. Now in its fourth year, the event is jointly organized by KACS and Kalamazoo College. Attendees included K College chemistry majors, WMU graduate students, and mentors from across the Kalamazoo area. This is the second virtual networking event, a pandemic induced switch that is helping to grow the event beyond the Kalamazoo/Portage area. Speed Networking brings together future chemists and mentors from local industry to build a networking community for young chemists. Mentors and students met one-on-one for ten minutes to discuss their experiences, share strategies for career success, and tips for networking. Between breakout rooms, we heard from Jackie Srodes in the K-college Career Development Center and Ed Thomas, KACS chair, about career resources available to students and recent graduates. Suja Thakali, a chemistry major at K, shared her experience as a past Speed Networking attendee and the advice she learned. Bob Gadwood shared stories of career surprises and the importance of networking to overcome setbacks. We’re looking forward to another great evening next year and hopefully a return to in-person networking. Interested in becoming a mentor for the next event? Contact Blakely Tresca for info.

JAWS Chem Webinar Access

JAWS Chem, available at this link shared by K College’s Blakely Tresca, gives access to webinars presented by early-career scientists.

Cartoon Congratulations

A long-time ACS members (though fairly recent to KACS), Kenneth Abate, has been busy sketching cartoons; he recently submitted two of his items to the ACS Division of the History of Chemistry (HIST) “Elemental Art contest” and his two cartoons shown above [“Can’t Take the Heat” and “You’ll Get Gas”], were awarded a third prize from among the 27 cartoons entered in that category of the competition. The judges were very excited by the originality and quality of his work and selected it for the award “with utmost enthusiasm.” These cartoons will be printed in the Spring 2022 HIST newsletter and also be published on the HIST website.

Early-Career Advice from Industry Leaders

Read what biopharma executives have to say about the following question: What is most important for your early career scientists, i.e., 0-5 years with your company, to accomplish in their first five years if they wish to be considered for advancement/promotion opportunities at your company? in this informative article from Industry Matters.