August 2022, Vol. 12(8)

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Highlights

Congratulations Blakely Tresca, CCA Volunteer of the Year

By Hershel Jude

Every year the ACS Committee on Community Activities (CCA) invites each local section to identify one member as its “Volunteer of the Year” (VOTY). The individual selected should have been involved actively in planning outreach experiences that aim to improve the public’s perception of chemistry.

Our KACS VOTY nominee for 2021 was Blakely Tresca, a Kalamazoo College faculty member. During the year Blake championed the Kalamazoo College chemistry club, motivating his students to be active in ACS. He presented demonstrations at the virtual 2021 chemistry day at the museum and provided supplies needed for some of the other activities as well. Blake co-organized a virtual speed-networking event to introduce Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University students to the ACS career offerings, and to the large variety of careers available to chemistry students after they complete their undergraduate degrees, while simultaneously hearing of personal attributes which contribute to success. He also spear-headed the formation of an industrial panel (ZOOM format) from among our membership, at which college students could ask questions about the various industrial jobs represented and hear personal experiences from our panelists. In addition, Blakely participated in our KACS virtual strategic planning weekend in the Fall of 2021.

When you see Blake, please congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition.

KACS Nominated for ChemLuminary Award

We received word in early July that KACS was selected as a finalist for a ChemLuminary Award in the Medium Small section category (we have ~250 members) for our 2021 activities as reported in our Annual Report. The celebration will be held during the Chicago ACS meeting at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Grand Ballroom A-F. The Poster session and reception will start at 8 p.m. on Tuesday evening, August 23, and will be followed by the presentation of the awards from 9 to 10 p.m. (doors to the Award celebration itself will open at 8:45 p.m.); there will be music and dancing open to those who want to stay after 10 p.m. If you are planning to be at the Chicago ACS meeting in person you may want to plan to attend this gala to see if our KACS is named a winner. Contact Ed Thomas, the Section’s Past-Chair, so he can be on the lookout for you at the party!

Join Us for Speed Networking

Speed Networking is returning for the 6th year on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, an activity co-sponsored by the Kalamazoo section of the ACS and Kalamazoo College.

Join us at 6 p.m. on ZOOM for five rounds of short discussions on careers and navigating life as a chemist. Registration is open now at http://bit.ly/KACS2022 (registration flyer at right). Sign-up early as space may be limited, and priority will be given to early registrants.

Professional chemists from industry and academia are invited to sign up as mentors. We need your help, as this event can’t happen without you!

Undergraduate students, this is your chance to meet with professionals from across the chemical enterprise and ask questions about what it takes to get, and experience success, in the positions you want.

In addition to break-out sessions, we will hear from past attendees how mentorship has shaped their careers, and a short keynote presentation on successful strategies in industrial chemistry.

Chemistry Day at the Museum—Any Interest?

Chemistry Day at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, our Section’s primary outreach event for National Chemistry Week (NCW), is being planned for Saturday, October 15, 2022, noon to 4 p.m. This year it will be held in person for the first time since October 2019, and often attracts more than 500 people from our community each year!

But we need your help! This event needs 10-20 volunteers to present demonstrations and talk with young people about the wonders of chemistry. Don’t worry if you don’t know what demonstration to do—we have a list of from which you may choose!

If you are willing to participate in this event, please email Hershel Jude.

Summer Picnic/Annual Meeting—Any Interest?

As mentioned in the June issue of The KalChemist News, we are planning a picnic and annual meeting on Saturday, September 10 or 17. Please email Hershel Jude if you would like to attend (include if you are available on one of these dates or both, and how many people from your family or group will be joining us).

It’s a chance to catch up with old friends that you may not have seen since before the pandemic started, to meet folks who are new to the KACS, and to enjoy some family fun (yes, your families are invited to come with you)!

Also, we need your help! Please email Hershel Jude if you are willing to help organize, run the grill, grocery shop (KACS will pay), set up before the event, clean up after the event, etc. Many hands make light work!

KACS Project SEED Update

By Doug Williams
KACS Project SEED Coordinator

Project SEED returned to in-person research this year after the last two years were limited to virtual programming and projects. This summer, the Kalamazoo Section sponsored three Project SEED fellows who are introduced below.

Our fellows will be presenting posters of their work at the Kalamazoo College Summer Research Symposium from 11:30 a.m.—2 p.m. on Friday, August 26 in the Calder Fieldhouse next to the K-College football stadium. Enter the fieldhouse from the parking lot on W. Michigan Avenue. If you are available, please drop in to visit them and hear about each project.

If you would like to contribute to our Project SEED fellowship fund, please visit our website for more information (https://kalamazooacs.org/project-seed/).

Alejandro Alvarez

Alejandro Alvarez is working in Kalsec’s Discovery and Open Innovation R&D team as part of the ACS Project SEED summer internship program. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Alejandro just finished his Junior year at Kalamazoo Central High School (KCHS). He is interested in pursuing a career in the engineering field, either Chemical Engineering, Food Engineering, Nuclear Power, or Aeronautics. Of his many hobbies, Alejandro particularly enjoys drawing, gardening (with a special interest in growing mint), and being on the KCHS Model United Nations club. At Kalsec, he has been working on modernizing a GC-MS library of essential oil analyses and creating a searchable database.

Eddie Anderson

My name is Eddie Anderson, and I am pleased to be a part of ACS Project SEED. I am currently 15 years old and going into my junior year at Kalamazoo Central High School. At Kalamazoo Central is where I met my chemistry teacher Mr. Carver who referred me to the ACS Project SEED Summer Internship. Personally, I have always been interested in science and engineering, it was not until my sophomore year that I realized I really enjoy chemistry. Outside of science, my hobbies are making music, track and field, and graphic design. Through Project SEED, I am able to experience hundreds of scientific techniques and meet many professional scientists. My project is stationed at Kalsec food manufacturing under the mentorship of Joe Chemler. The goal of my project is to categorize the rheological properties of spice and herb oleoresins to improve the First Pass Quality of finished goods. My efforts will have a significant impact on the speed at which Kalsec’s finished goods are bulked for customers by eliminating some of the common causes of QC failures. I have really appreciated the help from my mentor as well as the R&D team here at Kalsec. They have an open willingness to teach and help me understand an extraordinarily complex scientific world. The most important thing I learned at Kalsec is, always ask other scientists about their work because it can provide valuable information about what you can do in the future. I will always recommend that future Project Seed students never be afraid to ask questions. Remember that when you go into these internships you are here to learn. Don’t be scared to look stupid when asking questions because all questions grow your scientific knowledge. Try to experience science through other lenses than your own, to understand why it is that scientists do what they do. ACS Project SEED is a fantastic way to see what you like and don’t like in the scientific world, and even what you could change.

Sadaya Hamby

Hello! My name is Sadaya Hamby, and I will be a junior this year attending Kalamazoo Central High School. My Chemistry teacher’s name is Mr. Jovaughn Carver, who introduced me to and encouraged me to apply for project SEED. I graduate in the year 2024, maybe even 2023. In my free time, I like to draw, read, write and socialize. This summer, I am working with Dr. Dwight Williams at Kalamazoo College. The goal of my project is to create an anti-microbial, using a combination of synthesis and hybrids. I have appreciated the hands-on learning experience and the atmosphere. Not only am I learning a substantial amount, I am able to do or show the things I am learning almost immediately. Some advice I would give to future participants is to relax. I know sometimes you might get a little overwhelmed at first at maybe even the thought of working with people who have more knowledge and experience than you, but that’s part of what you’re here for. You are here to learn and especially in a way that you can’t get sitting in a classroom. So learn and relax, you will have fun, and you will be amazed at what you can do. My current plans after high school are to go to K-College for my undergraduate degree, and then go to medical school or achieve my doctorate in another STEM field. Project SEED has greatly influenced my decisions. Getting to know some of the professors and students at K-College has been really helpful. This program also helped me see that not only do I maybe want to be a surgeon, but I might want to stay in the lab, or be a chemical engineer as well. I am hugely grateful for this opportunity and the exposure it has granted me.

K-College Student Wins ACS Women Chemists Committee (WCC) Priscilla Carney Jones Scholarship

By Blakely Tresca

The Priscilla Carney Jones Scholarship for 2022 was awarded to Crystal Mendoza, a Chemistry major at Kalamazoo College. The scholarship is given each year by the WCC to a female undergraduate student in chemistry and includes a minimum of $1,500 towards their education.

Crystal is currently abroad in Germany for a summer research experience at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology working with Prof. Claudia Bizzarri. She will be presenting her research on inorganic catalysts for CO2 reduction at the K College Senior Symposium next year and plans to present her prior research for the 2022 SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science) meeting in October 2022.

You can read more about Crystal’s story in this article, https://www.kzoo.edu/news/mentors-help-chemistry-major/

This is the second year in a row that a Kalamazoo College student has won this award; Ola Bartolik was the recipient in 2021.

‘I’m Not Sure Where I Would Be If I Was Not Immersed in ACS and Its Activities’

By Roger Nahas
KALSEC (Executive Vice President of Global Research & Development and Chief Innovation Officer)

“My journey with ACS goes back to being a graduate student at the University of Missouri, eager to explore the world, connect with my fellow chemists and develop my scientific and professional skills. ACS provided a lot of tools that shaped up my experience to a much better version of myself. Of particular importance was the ACS National Meeting in Spring 2007 in Chicago, IL. Specifically, the job fair which highlighted an opening from a spice extraction company from a place called Kalamazoo, in the state of Michigan that I had never visited but only heard of its major city, Detroit. A resume submission led to a phone interview followed by a trip to Michigan in early May. Nothing but beautiful weather (they don’t tell you about November – April), nice food, good beer and more importantly: impressive science and some of the best and most passionate chemists I have ever met. The rest is history and 15 years later I still love my job, and my wife who is a Michigander by birth, and three kids born and raised in Kalamazoo. Thank you ACS! I’m not sure where I would be if I was not immersed in ACS and its activities, but I might not have been where I am today.”

Less is More When it Comes to a Job Interview

Carlonda Reilly says be concise and precise with your answers to interviewers’ questions

From Industry Matters Newsletter March 10, 2022

Dr. Carlonda Reilly has been the vice president and chief technology officer at Kennametal for the last three-and-one-half years. As a member of the executive leadership team, she is responsible for leading a global organization of close to 800 in research, development, and advanced engineering, delivering innovative advanced materials, tooling, and wear-resistant solutions to various industries.

As a science professional, you undoubtedly will interview for more than one position throughout your career. Two words to keep in mind as you prepare for your interview: Concise and precise.

Be concise: I have had many hour-long interviews where I was only able to ask one or two questions. The candidate rambled for long lengths of time and sometimes never got around to answering. Listen intently to the question and be sure to address it! Organize your thoughts and experiences and include a few details to support your answer. Give time for follow-up discussion and for addressing your questions to the interviewer.

Be precise: A good way for an interviewer to determine whether you might be a good fit for a position is to hear you talk about what you have done in previous roles. When asked a question about how you handled a situation, do not give hypothetical answers, like what you “would do.”

Address questions by giving specific examples of what you actually “have done,” the results of your actions and how you learned from the experiences. If you talk about a team success, describe the impact that your individual contribution made and relate that to the question at hand. Provide examples that illustrate attributes, like your strengths, teamwork, leadership and how you’ve worked through specific challenges.

A Unique History Program

Below is a unique history program which came to the attention of KACS Councilor Lydia Hines. It is accessible on ZOOM (link here) and she invites you to join the audience on September 15.

A Chemist Founded the Smithsonian Institution, the Largest Museum Complex in the World!

Fun Fact contributed by Ed Thomas

Born in Paris of English parents, James Smithson attended Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1782. He excelled in chemistry and minerology. After an illustrious industrial career and with failing health, he left his estate to his nephew. A peculiar last clause was added to his will stipulating that if the nephew died without heirs, the estate would go to the United States “to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” Smithson died in 1829, at approximately 64 years old. Six years later his nephew died of unknown causes and left no heirs. The United States government was notified of this extraordinary bequest, and the estate, valued at more than $500,000, was awarded to the United States on May 9, 1838. Finally, after Congress debated for eight years what to do with the money, on August 10, 1846, President James K. Polk signed legislation establishing the Smithsonian Institution. (source: the Smithsonian Institution website)

Memory Lane

Some of our members who used to work at The Upjohn Company may want to take a “trip down memory lane” by looking at the picture in the lower left corner on page 28 of the July 4, 2022 issue of C&EN, part of a very complimentary article entitled “From a shark to a possible Parkinson’s drug.”

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