MWRM 2016

The American Chemical Society’s Kansas State University Section will host the 51st Midwest Regional Meeting (MWRM 2016) at the Hilton Garden Inn and Convention Center in Manhattan, Kan., from Wednesday, Oct. 26, to Friday, Oct. 28. The general chair is Dan Higgins, and the program chair is Stefan Bossmann, both of Kansas State University.

Technical program. The meeting will kick off with several invited and contributed sessions on Wednesday afternoon, followed by a Sci-Mix poster session and reception on Wednesday evening.

The technical program includes more than 400 oral and poster presentations on analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry, as well as biochemistry and chemical education.

Special symposia include “Colloidal Nanoplatforms: Synthesis & Assembly,” “Heterogeneous Catalysis,” “Novel Electrode Materials & Architectures for Energy & Sensing Applications,” “Computational Materials Chemistry,” “Frequency- & Time-Domain Spectroscopies: Applications to Complex Biological Systems,” “Miniaturized Separations for Bioanalytical Analysis,” and “Chemistry in Art.”

One of the highlights of the meeting will be the Midwest Regional Award symposium on Thursday afternoon, which will honor the Midwest Regional Award winner, Jacob Petrich, a chemistry professor at Iowa State University. The award recognizes the achievements of a chemist in the Midwest region who has made outstanding contributions to the advancement of pure or applied chemistry, chemical education, and the profession of chemistry.

Several poster sessions on Thursday and Friday will include displays of original hand-pulled prints by invited artists, demonstrating the collaboration of chemistry and art.

Workshops. Three workshops will be available during the meeting. An ACS career planning workshop on “Finding Your Pathway” will be offered on Thursday morning, followed by a resume review workshop in the afternoon. On Friday morning, there will be an ACS leadership development workshop on “Leading Without Authority.”

Undergraduate programming. The Kansas State University Section’s student affiliate group has an extensive undergraduate program planned for the meeting.

In addition to the workshops and undergraduate posters presented at Sci-Mix and elsewhere, poster award winners will be given the opportunity to speak at the Undergraduate Awards Symposium on Friday afternoon. Students are also encouraged to attend the Undergraduate Luncheon on Friday. Tours of the Kansas State University campus will be offered on Thursday. All attendees are invited to the “Evening of Chemistry” demonstration show on Thursday evening.

Exposition. The exposition will provide attendees with the opportunity to learn about the products and services provided by several companies and will also give prospective graduate students the opportunity to learn about graduate programs in chemistry from across the nation, with an emphasis on schools from the Midwest Region. The exposition will open early on Wednesday afternoon and will also be part of the opening mixer that evening. Booths will remain open all day on Thursday.

Awards. In addition to the Midwest Regional Award, the following awards will be presented at the meeting: the Stanley C. Israel Regional Award for Advancing Diversity in the Chemical Sciences, the ACS Division of Chemical Education Midwest Region Award for Excellence in High School Teaching, in Honor of John E. Bauman Jr., the E. Ann Nalley Midwest Region Award for Volunteer Service to ACS, the Partners in Progress and Prosperity Award, and several awards to undergraduate and graduate students.

Registration and lodging. Early-bird registration for the meeting ends at 11:59 PM CDT on Sept. 30, but you can register at the on-site rate through the end of the meeting. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hilton Garden Inn and at a neighboring Fairfield Inn & Suites. The discounted rate may be obtained if reservations are made on or before Sept. 25. Reservations may be made electronically through the meeting website at mwrm2016.org.