Team USA named to represent US in 57th International Chemistry Olympiad  

The team that will represent the US at the 57th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, July 5–14, was announced at an awards banquet held at the University of Maryland in College Park on June 13.

The 2025 team consists of Adam Madni, Yash Shah, William Wang, and Max Zhou. Samuel Xu was named as first alternate, and Yuqing Liu was named as second alternate.  

The US team will be accompanied to Dubai by head mentor Songwen Xie, college mentor Borislava Bekker, and two high school mentors, Komal Jain and Steve Lantos.

The banquet was a final gathering and celebration to cap off a 20-person study camp hosted at the University of Maryland from June 2–13. In addition to studying to qualify for the international competition, students took part in extracurricular activities together. Madni says two of his favorite activities were a day trip to Annapolis and rock climbing, “but the main takeaway I got was the little moments here and there, like interacting with people in my dorm or on my floor, or downstairs when we were singing [karaoke], and developing inside jokes and different bonds—that was really the most fun part.”

Wang found the karaoke most fun, but it was less about the singing and more about the singing together. “It’s really fun because we don’t have any solos, and I don’t think I’d do karaoke if I had to do a solo, but we would always sing together all the songs, so it was a super fun bonding experience,” he says.

Jain says remembering to enjoy the camp is the advice she’d give to any future study-camp attendees, “Yes, your goal is to be here in the camp and qualify to move forward, but your bigger goal is to enjoy every moment of it,” not just the chemistry part, “but the life around you and the people around you.”

The US National Chemistry Olympiad has been sponsored by the American Chemical Society since 1984. Students in the US compete to advance through different tiers of the olympiad program for a chance to represent the country at IChO, the final of the program’s four tiers. The students selected to represent the US on Team USA at IChO are among over 9,000 students who had taken two examinations since March to qualify at the local and national levels, from which 20 students were selected for the study camp.

At this year’s IChO, the US team will compete with teams of students from 92 other participating countries. The students will spend hours taking part in a practical examination on one day and a theoretical examination on another. They will also tour Abu Dhabi and Dubai and visit a local laboratory.

Zhou says that he is looking forward to meeting all of the new people and to talk to them about chemistry—one of his favorite parts about the study camp was talking about the questions after the fact and discussing the science—but he recognizes that the exams will be challenging: “There is only one theory and one practical exam, and they’re both for 5 hours, so you need to be on top of your game and stay focused.”

There are two things Yash really likes about chemistry: the history—“I really like seeing when different events happen in time and connecting that together to get a bigger picture”—and meeting new people who also do chemistry—“It’s always great to meet new people [from different cultures] and see their perspective on things.” IChO will have plenty of perspectives for the students to engage with.

The US mentors are excited to exchange ideas with fellow mentors and learn what students from other countries are most curious about. Mentors are responsible for discussing and determining the questions and composition of the two qualifying exams at the international level. Lantos, joking, says he’s most excited about winning but adds seriously, “but more so having our kids have a unique and wonderful experience. We know, from being at IChO previously, this is a nonreproducible event for these individuals.” He notes they’ll get to meet people from around the globe and top chemists doing high-level chemistry, “and we know it will be a lasting memory for each of them.”

You can learn more about the 57th IChO by visiting www.icho2025.ae/. Details about the US National Chemistry Olympiad and how to get involved are available at www.acs.org/education/students/highschool/olympiad.html.