2015 Western Regional Meeting

The Orange County Section of the American Chemical Society will host the 45th Western Regional Meeting (WRM) at California State University (CSU), San Marcos, from Friday, Nov. 6, to Sunday, Nov. 8. The meeting will feature presentations, poster sessions, an exposition, receptions, and an educators’ day. The theme of the meeting is “Chemistry’s New Frontiers.”

Sandra Thompson of CSU San Marcos is the general chair. The program chairs are Michael Kleinman of the University of California, Irvine, and Keisuke Ikehata of Pacific Advanced Civil Engineering.

Visit www.acswrm.org for program, registration, and hotel details.

TECHNICAL PROGRAM. Symposia include “Analytical Chemistry,” “Biochemical Technology,” “Chemical Education,” “Chemical Safety,” “Crystallography,” “Colloids & Surface Chemistry,” “Energy & Fuel Chemistry,” “Environmental Chemistry,” “Fire & Water,” “Green Polymers,” “Inorganic Chemistry,” “The Many Faces of CHAL,” “Medicinal Chemistry,” “Nanomaterials,” “Natural Products,” “Organic Chemistry,” “Organometallic Chemistry,” “Pharmaceutical Sciences,” “Physical Chemistry,” “Process Organic Chemistry,” “Renewables & Green Chemistry,” “Recent Advances in Base Metal Catalysis,” and “Theory & Experiment Working Together: From Synthetic Chemistry to Drug Design—A Symposium in Honor of Ken Houk.” Younger Chemists Committee programming and general poster sessions will be available on Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

WORKSHOPS. Attendees interested in intellectual property and how it affects their chemical business, or legal considerations for chemists and chemical businesses, can sign up for workshops on these topics that will take place on Saturday and Sunday. In addition, the ACS career workshop “Finding Your Pathway” will be offered on Friday morning. This workshop is not only for graduate and undergraduate students but also for recent graduates and experienced professionals considering a career change.

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMMING. In addition to the “Finding Your Pathway” career workshop, appointments are available for individual résumé reviews. The Younger Chemists Committee will be hosting a networking event on Friday evening, and a number of undergraduate posters will be presented on Friday and Saturday.

EXPOSITION. The expo hours of operation are Friday from 8 AM to 7 PM and Saturday from 8 AM to 5 PM. Exhibitors include AK Scientific, Anasazi Instruments, Bruker AXS, CSU San Marcos, CSU San Marcos College of Science & Mathematics, W.R. Grace Discovery Sciences, Magritek, Nanalysis, PerkinElmer, Pine Research Instrumentation, Quark Glass, TCI America, and Teledyne Isco.

AWARDS. Several awards will be presented at the meeting. These include the Stanley C. Israel Regional Award for Advancing Diversity in the Chemical Sciences, the ACS Division of Chemical Education Western Region Award for Excellence in High School Teaching, the E. Ann Nalley Western Region Award for Volunteer Service to ACS, the Partners for Progress & Prosperity Award, and various awards for graduate and undergraduate posters. The awards reception will take place on Saturday night at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens.

SOCIAL EVENTS. The social and networking events for WRM 2015 will kick off Friday afternoon with the Women Chemists Luncheon. Susan Baxter of the CSU Program for Education & Research in Biotechnology will be the keynote speaker. The Orange County Section’s Younger Chemists Committee will host a networking reception on Friday night before Sci-Mix. The social and networking events will conclude Saturday night with the WRM 2015 awards reception at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens near the CSU San Marcos campus.

REGISTRATION AND LODGING. Registration for WRM is now open and can be made online at wrm2015.sites.acs.org/registration.htm. You can also register at the on-site rate through the end of the meeting.

The following hotels are offering special rates to meeting participants: Hampton Inn San Marcos, Lakehouse Hotel & Resort, and Residence Inn San Diego North/San Marcos. Visit the meeting website for more details on how to book a room.