PACT in partnership with Ateneo de Manila University celebrates the Chemistry Week 2019 and UNESCO’s International Year of the Periodic Table of Elements

The Philippine Association of Chemistry Teachers together with the Chemistry Department of Ateneo de Manila University celebrated the Chemistry Week 2019 and the International Year of the Periodic Table of Elements last February 23, 2019 at the PLDT-Convergent Technologies Center, Ateneo de Manila University.

The Seminar-Workshop was attended by 135 participants coming from the National Capital Region(NCR), Region 3, Region 5, Region 7 and Region 11 (Compostela Valley).

The event started with the Welcome Remarks of Dr. Gilbert U. Uy, Chair-OIC of the Chemistry Department, Ateneo de Manila University.

After the Welcome Remarks, an Inspirational Message was given by Dr. Glenn V. Alea, President of the Philippine Federation of Chemistry Societies (PFCS). Dr. Alea’s inspiring message was summarized in the word “IMPACT”. The letter “I” for Influence, “M” for Mentorship, “P” for Personality, “A” for Ability to relate to students, “C” for Crave for knowledge, and “T” for Technique.

The first lecture “Collaboration between the Academe and the Industry to Uplift the Chemistry Profession” was given by Engr. Limuel Razo, Corporate Vice-President for Manufacturing Network of UNILAB. In his talk, he articulated the role of teachers in the choice of career of the high school students. He discussed the on-going initiatives of Unilab with the academe and the professional organizations like PACT to help the teachers to further improve their teaching. He mentioned the availability of their services and manufacturing plants that will serve as training laboratory for the teachers and college students. He informed the teachers that Unilab is offering scholarships to students and assistance to the teachers who are taking graduate studies.

The second lecture was given by Dr. Erwin P. Enriquez, Professor, Department of Chemistry and Program in Materials Science and Engineering, School of Science and Engineering, Ateneo de Manila University. His areas of concentration are: 1) printed electronics 2) nanobiosensors 3) nanomaterials 4) nanochemistry; and 5) materials science and engineering. He presented and discussed the use of the Periodic Table in the 21st element. His talk was very informative and relevant. His talk includes the following: 1) artificial intelligence 2) nano-technology 3) endangered elements 4) new allotropes of carbon 5) quantum regime and internet of things (IoT). He urged the participants to inform the students about the endangered elements and challenged them not to frequently changed their mobile phones due to the limited resource of indium. He presented as well the current studies being done in their research laboratory in nano technology and new materials.

The third lecture “The Good and Bad Elements: Thinking Ethically about the Environment” was given by Dr. Airill L. Mercurio, Chair, Biological Sciences Department, College of Science and Computer Studies, De La Salle-Dasmariñas. She discussed the several factors, involving the elements, that may ruin our environment.

The fourth lecture “The Nuclide Chart: Exploring the lesser known Periodic Table of Elements” was given by Dr. Jasmine Angelie V. Albelda, Senior Science Research Specialist of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute. She discussed the isotopes, the alpha, beta and gamma particles and the current researches being done at PNRI.

There were four workshops during the afternoon’s Parallel Sessions.

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