SWRM/SERMACS 2010

Laissez la bonne chimie rouler! Let the good chemistry roll …

The Louisiana Section of the American Chemical Society will host the 66th Southwest and 62nd Southeastern Regional Meeting (SWRM and SERMACS, respectively) in New Orleans at the Hilton Riverside Hotel from Tuesday, Nov. 30, to Saturday, Dec. 4. Sean Hickey of the University of New Orleans is the general chair of the joint meeting; Mark Trudell of the University of New Orleans is the program chair. Visit the meeting website, swrm.org, for program details, registration, and hotel information.

TECHNICAL PROGRAM. The meeting will feature an outstanding technical program consisting of more than 90 symposia from 17 ACS divisions. Many of the symposia highlight the work of nationally and internationally recognized chemists:

■ Omar Yaghi (University of California, Los Angeles), winner of the 2010 Centenary Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry, will give a plenary lecture on supramolecular chemistry.

■ Simon Aldridge (Queen’s College, Oxford, England), winner of the 2010 Royal Society of Chemistry Award for Main Group Chemistry, will present his current research on main-group organometallic chemistry.

■ Cope Scholars Mukund P. Sibi (University of North Dakota) and John L. Wood (Colorado State University) will discuss advances in modern organic synthesis.

■ F. Ivy Carroll (Research Triangle Institute), a member of the ACS Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame, will highlight some recent advances in CNS therapeutics.

■ Robert F. Garry Jr. (Tulane University) will discuss recent advances toward the development of potent anti-influenza medications in peptides in biotechnology and biomedicine.

■ Thomas R. Krugh (University of Rochester) will give a plenary lecture on Frontiers in Nucleic Acid Chemistry.

■ Rod Bartlett (University of Florida), recipient of the 2007 ACS Award in Theoretical Chemistry, Pierangelo Metrangolo (Politecnico di Milano Technical University), and Giuseppe Resnati (Politecnico di Milano Technical University), cochairs of the IUPAC Task Group on Halogen Bonding; Timothy Clark (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg), director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Materials; and Jerzy Leszczynski (Jackson State University), director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Nanotoxicity, will be among the many distinguished speakers presenting at the three-day Symposium on Computational/Experimental Characterization of Advanced Materials.

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM/GRADUATE FAIR. The undergraduate program will start on Thursday and go through Saturday. Highlights include talks and demonstrations on the chemistry of art and on chemistry community outreach. On Friday, in addition to symposia titled Organic Made Simple and Making a Successful Transition to Graduate School, there will be an undergraduate poster session and a graduate fair featuring more than 40 universities that will conclude with a joint social hour sponsored by the New Orleans section of the Younger Chemists Committee and the chemistry clubs of Xavier University, Loyola University, and the University of New Orleans. On Saturday, a field trip to the New Orleans Museum of Art will further the discussion of chemistry and art, along with the undergraduate oral session.

WORKSHOPS. On Wednesday, the ACS Office of Career Management & Development will offer three workshops: Planning Your Job Search, Preparing a Résumé, and Effective Interviewing. In addition, 30-minute résumé review sessions with an ACS career consultant will be available. John Wiley & Sons will present a workshop titled Online Assessment in the Organic Classroom, and Waters will present the workshop Fundamentals of HPLC Method Development. Additional workshops will include three by the ACS Leadership Development System and Jack Hipple on the relationship between chemical engineers and chemists. See the meeting website for details.

SPECIAL EVENTS. On Tuesday evening, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM, attendees are invited to the opening reception in the exhibition hall. A Sci-Mix will be held in the exhibition hall on Wednesday from 5 to 7 PM. The SWRM/SERMACS 2010 awards reception and banquet will be held on Thursday from noon to 2 PM at Emeril’s New Orleans Restaurant (Emeril Lagasse’s original, multi-award-winning restaurant, emerils.com/restaurant/1/Emerils-New-Orleans/info). And on Friday from 12:30 to 1:30 PM the Women Chemists Committee will sponsor a luncheon. See the meeting website for details on these and other social events.

EXPOSITION. The exposition will open on Tuesday from 5:30 to 7:30 PM in coordination with the opening reception and continues on Wednesday from 10 AM to 4 PM and Thursday from 9:30 AM to 4 PM. The exhibition area will include the poster sessions and other events. To reserve exhibit space, visit the meeting website.

LODGING. Blocks of rooms have been reserved at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside until Nov. 7. Hotel reservations are open and some rooms may still be available for the early-bird rate of $169. The Hilton New Orleans Riverside (neworleansriversidehotel.com, 504-561-0500) is located next to the world-famous Audubon Aquarium of the Americas (auduboninstitute.org/visit/aquarium) and across the street from Harrah’s Casino (harrahsneworleans.com).The French Quarter and warehouse district are within walking distance from the hotel. In addition, the riverfront streetcar has a stop at the hotel entrance and there is an entrance inside the hotel to the Riverwalk shopping center (riverwalkmarketplace.com). Reservation and hotel information can be found on the “Venue” tab at the meeting website.

TRAVEL. Louis Armstrong Airport (flymsy.com) is about 15 miles from the hotel. A cab ride costs $33 from the airport to the Central Business District (CBD) for one or two people and $14 per passenger for three or more passengers. Pick-up is on the lower level, outside the baggage claim area. Shuttle service is available from the airport to the hotels in the CBD for $20 per person one-way or $38 per person round-trip, three bags per person are allowed; call Airport Shuttle Inc. at (866) 596-2699 toll-free or (504) 522-3500 for more details or to make a reservation. Ticket booths are located on the lower level in the baggage-claim area.

REGISTRATION. Register online at the meeting website. Early-bird registration closes on Nov. 15. On-site registration will take place in the Hilton Exposition Hall during the meeting.