Tag Archives: Organizing Committee

Participation in the III ACS LatAm+C Faculty Advisors Meeting

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As part of the Organizing Committee and Faculty Advisor of the ACS International Student Chapter at Tecnológico de Costa Rica, I had the opportunity to participate in the III ACS Latin America and the Caribbean Faculty Advisors Meeting. The event took place in Lima, at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, from November 21st to 24th. The meeting brought together 21 Faculty Advisors from Chile, Peru, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Jamaica.

The aim of the event was to create a space for a better understanding of our roles as Faculty Advisors, the challenges faced within Student Chapters, and the strategies available to better support our students. In addition, we had the honor of welcoming the ACS President, Dr. Rigoberto Hernández, and other ACS staff members. Funding opportunities and international networking were key topics discussed throughout the meeting.

During the event, I delivered a presentation titled Successful networking stories between our Chapters. In this talk, I highlighted internship experiences developed among Latin American ACS International Student Chapters, explained how these collaborations were initiated, and described the logistics involved in making them possible.

Official photo of the meeting attendees
Outside the venue of the meeting

Organization and participation in the VIII LatAm NMR School

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The VIII Latin American NMR School took place from July 21st to July 25th at the main campus from Tecnológico de Costa Rica (TEC) in Cartago, Costa Rica. It was the first time that the country hold such kind of event, led by Dr. Karla Ramírez-Gualito and me. The VIII LatAm NMR School was sponsored by the International Society on Magnetic Resonance (ISMAR). Thanks to its financial support it was possible to offer three complete grants to Latin American students. Moreover, the event received financial and logistic support from Bruker, JEOL and Magritek.

Students from Costa Rica, Chile, Perú, Jamaica and Puerto Rico attended the NMR School in Cartago. The event consisted in a series of lectures about quantum mechanics in NMR, relaxation theory, applications, and NMR simulations. The lectures were given by NMR experts from Mexico, United States, Israel and Costa Rica. Most of the talks were focus on benchtop NMR and the practical part took place at the School of Chemistry of TEC, using a Spinsolve 60 (Magritek). Furthermore, it was the first time that a poster session took place as part of the NMR School activities, with 8 posters presented by undergrad and grad students from Latin America.

As part of the schedule, a one-day social event took place where attendees visited a coffee farm in the village of Santa María de Dota. The social activity was an excellent opportunity for networking between participants.

The VIII LatAm NMR School was a great success, developed in a respectful and friendly atmosphere, where participants had the opportunity to interact with NMR experts from academia and industry. I am confident that this NMR School will bring new collaborations to foster NMR in our region.

Special thanks to the students Daniel Fernández-Rodríguez and Brandon Ortega-Cordero, both majoring in Engineering Physics at TEC, for their valuable support before and during the event.

Social event in Santa María de Dota
During the poster session
During one of the NMR School lectures
Official picture with most of the NMR School attendees

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

Organization and participation in the II Costa Rica Chemistry Conference (CR24)

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From July 23rd to July 26th, Costa Rica hosted the II Costa Rica Chemistry Conference (Chemistry: A Solution for Global Problems), supported by the Chemistry Departments of the five national public universities and the Colegio de Químicos de Costa Rica. The conference also received endorsement from the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). It was held in the Auditorio Cora Ferro Calabrese at Universidad Nacional in Heredia, Costa Rica.

As President of the Scientific Committee, I am deeply grateful for the support of my colleagues and the other committees. Thanks to this collaboration, we surpassed the number of attendees from the previous conference, indicating that our event is gaining recognition both nationally and internationally.

The conference was sponsored by ACS Publications and the Chemical Abstract Service (CAS), Bruker, JEOL, Magritek, Scanco, INBOX, and G&H Steinvorth. Also, this was the first time all plenary talks and most general talks were presented in English. The event featured international speakers from Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, USA, Canada, Germany, and Spain. We also welcomed many undergraduate and graduate students who presented oral communications or posters. For instance, Tatiana Alpízar-Rojas from my research group presented part of her work on aerogel/enzyme characterization. Additionally, I delivered an oral communication titled NMR Hyperpolarization Techniques in Costa Rica, showcasing our group’s achievements and ongoing projects.

I am pleased to announce that the III Costa Rica Chemistry Conference will be held at Tecnológico de Costa Rica in 2026. I invite everyone to save the date. We will work hard to organize an outstanding conference in Cartago, aiming to match or exceed the success of this year’s event.

Tatiana Alpízar-Rojas presenting her poster during the conference
During the inauguration of the II Costa Rica Chemistry Conference
Moment where I gave a present to Dr. Rafael Gómez-Bombarelli on the name of the Organizers
Conference pciture at the entrance of the main venue
Overview of the conference