Tag Archives: International Conference

Participation at the ACS Spring 2025 Meeting

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From March 23rd to 27th, I had the privilege of attending, presenting, and actively participating in the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2025 Meeting in San Diego, California. I am deeply grateful to Oficina de Becas at Tecnológico de Costa Rica for their financial support, as well as to the ACS Student Communities Professional Meeting Grant, which enabled two student members from the ACS TEC Synergy Student Chapter to join this incredible event.

As part of the Division of Chemical Education, I had the honor of co-organizing the symposium “Student Chapters Leading the Way in Global Chemical Education Innovation” alongside Prof. Santiago Sandí-Ureña, Prof. Betty Galarreta, and Prof. Ingrid Montes. During this symposium, I presented my talk, ACS LATAM Student Chapter Advisors Meeting: Strengthening Support for Faculty Advisors and Student Members. Additionally, I had the opportunity to preside over several sessions of the symposium “ACS Chemistry Festivals: A Global, Non-formal Chemistry Education Model: Rationale, History & Impact.”

A highlight of the conference was our ACS Student Chapter receiving the Commendable Award for our work during the 2023-2024 period—a testament to the dedication of our students. Beyond the formal program, I engaged in fruitful discussions with colleagues from Latin America, the U.S., Lebanon, and Ghana, paving the way for exciting future collaborations for both faculty and students.

Speakers of the Chemistry Festival Symposium
With the ACS TEC Synergy Chapter student members
Celebrating with colleagues from Colombia and Brazil
During my presentation about the Faculty Advisors Meeting

Participation in the ACS Latin American Leadership Summit 2024 and the II LATAM+C Faculty Advisors Meeting

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From November 7th to November 11th, I participated in the Latin American Leadership Summit hold in the city of Bogota, Colombia. The summit was organized by the International Activities Committee (IAC) from the American Chemical Society, where more than 60 people people from 9 different countries actively participated. I attended as Faculty Advisor of the ACS International Student Chapter Synergy from Tecnológico de Costa Rica (TEC), together with the student member Cristian Nájera-Obando. On the summit I had the opportunity to present the talk entitled The Faculty Advisors Meeting. From Antigua to Bogotá: what we have done so far, where I showed the main results achieved thanks to the meeting in Antigua last year (i.e., student exchange, access to University facilities, international conference attendance for Latin American students). On the summit it was possible to interact with student leaders from the region, trying to connect our International Chapters and working together to develop our strategic plans.

After the Leadership Summit, I attended the II Faculty Advisors Meeting, which brought together 19 Faculty Advisors from across Latin America and the Caribbean. I had the privilege of serving on the Organizing Committee alongside Prof. Rodrigo Rodríguez (Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, Colombia), Prof. Betty Galarreta (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Peru), and Prof. Maria da Conceição Ferreira de Oliveira (Universidade Federal do Ceará, Brazil). This meeting provided an excellent opportunity to engage in an informal and collaborative atmosphere, exploring ways to build stronger connections between our International Student Chapters to support the personal and professional development of students in our region. We also attended insightful talks on understanding and engaging with new generations and improving science communication. Exciting new projects are on the horizon in the coming months.

Attendees to the Leadership Summit
Faculty Advisors during the Leadership Summit
Participants in the II Faculty Advisors Meeting

Group participation at the ACS National Meeting

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From March 17th to March 21st, three students from my research group (Tatiana Alpízar, Andrés Borloz and Andrés Rocha) and I attended the ACS Spring 2024 conference in New Orleans, USA. The students participation was made possible through the support of the Vicerrectoría de Vida Estudiantil y Servicios Académicos (VIESA) from Tecnológico de Costa Rica (TEC), as well as an ACS Student Communities Professional Meeting Grant.

During the conference I presented (Division of Chemical Education: societal issues) the talk entitled “Inclusive remote international poster sessions (iRIPS): an approach for student inclusion and diversity at ACS meetings“, with the main results and suggestions from the Global Innovation Grant project developed two years ago.

During the meeting we received great news: my student, Tatiana Alpízar-Rojas received the 2024 I. M. Kolthoff Award for her work entitled “Influence of functionalization agents on hydrophobic silica aerogel structural properties“, presented as a poster in the Division of Analytical Chemistry. Tatiana is the first Central American recipient of such award. A great honor for her and our working group!

Moreover, Andrés Rocha-Valverde presented a poster entitled “Hyperpolarized MRI techniques: a proposal for the Costa Rican national health system“, within the Division of Medicinal Chemistry. His presentation offered a comprehensive overview of his research on the use of hyperpolarized methods on the Costa Rican MRI services. Additionally, Andrés Borloz-Chinchilla gave an outstanding oral presentation entitled “Nuclear magnetic resonance in Costa Rica: a historical perspective“, within the Division of the History of Chemistry. This presentation was related to our recently accepted paper on the history of NMR in the country.

We had the chance to interact with members from ACS Publications as well as students and Faculty Advisors from several ACS Student Chapters. Additionally, we initiated several discussions for potential collaborations aimed at supporting student internships and the design and development of a hyperpolarizer in Costa Rica.

Group members in Jackson Square and St Louis Cathedral
With Tatiana Alpízar after receiving her award
With Andrés Borloz after his talk
Meeting with students and Faculty Advisors from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú and from Texas Christian University

Participation at SERMACS Conference

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From October 19th to October 22nd, I participated at the South Eastern Regional Meeting from the American Chemical Society (SERMACS), held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as co-Chair of the inclusive-Remote International Poster Session (i-RIPS). Moreover, I presided the Symposium entitled ACS Chemistry Festivals, Non-formal Chemistry Education around the World, where I presented the results of the first ACS Chemistry Festival organized in Costa Rica.

During the conference, my former student (and current Material Science Engineer) Juan Diego Barboza-Carmona presented the main results of his bachelor thesis. Also, it was possible to participate in academic discussions with colleagues from Latin America, looking for future collaborations. At the same time, I participated in a dinner with the Nobel Laureate David Macmillan, members of the ACS Board of Directors, and international visitors.

i-RIPS Organizers with Dr. Ingrid Montes (black dress), General Meeting Chair
With the Nobel Laureate, David Macmillan
i-RIPS collaborators

TEC students participated at the ACS National Meeting

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Five students from our ACS International Student Chapter at Tecnológico de Costa Rica attended the ACS Spring National Meeting in San Diego, CA: Kate Willis (Biotechnology Engineering), Valery Rivera (Material Sciences Engineering), Susan Chamorro (Biotechnology Engineering), Jeroen van Hoof (Electromechanical Engineering) and Daniel Montero (Occupational Safety and Hygiene Engineering).
Thanks to an ACS Student Communities Professional Meeting Grant, our students presented two posters entitled:

  1. Pura Vida, Festival Químico: The first Chemistry Festival in Costa Rica.
  2. Accomplisments and lessons learned by the ACS International Student Chapter at TEC during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The students had the opportunity to interact with other ACS Student Chapters, participate in several professional and academic workshops, and attend oral communications related with their majors.

At the IAC International Reception. From left: Prof. Santiago Sandí, Lily Raines (ACS Office of Science Outreach), Kate Willis (student), Prof. Isaac F. Céspedes-Camacho, Valery Rivera (student), Jeroen van Hoof (student), Susan Chamorro (student) and Daniel Montero (student and President of the ACS International Student Chapter at TEC). Photo taken by the author.