Message from the President-May 2021
Written by Danny Wong
Dear members,
Thank you all for your overwhelming support for the upcoming Fellows and Honorary Life Members Lunch on Friday, 7th May! On the last count, the number of registered attendees has more than doubled that expected by the organising sub-committee! The 2019 lunch event was also held at L’aqua in Cockle Bay and we were most impressed by the spectacular water view in front of the venue. Therefore, please remember to bring along your camera or phone camera to snap away on the day! As advertised, we are also very fortunate to have Professor Ben Selinger, AM (the author of “Chemistry in the Marketplace”) to deliver a keynote session during the event. We look forward to seeing everyone during the event.
While we are anxiously waiting for the arrival of the Fellows and Honorary Life Members Lunch, please also allow me to inform all members that the Branch has already started actively organising the 2021 President’s Dinner, which was of course cancelled in 2020. This event will most likely be held in early August this year. We will provide all details once we have finalised details on the venue.
In the “Getting to know Branch Committee Members” section of the May Newsletter, we are featuring Mrs Maree Stuart, a name that is synonymous with RACI, being an active committee member of the NSW Analytical and Environmental Chemistry Group and the Branch in earlier years, and a Board Member in more recent years. In my previous role as the Chair of the NSW Analytical and Environmental Chemistry Group, I had the pleasure of working closely with Maree in organising several local symposia and national conferences. In addition to being a chemist, Maree is now of course a qualified lawyer running her own business that amalgamates both chemistry and law. Maree is a valuable committee member of the Branch.
Groups under the NSW Branch continue to be active in recent months. The Analytical and Environmental Chemistry Group has just held a webinar entitled “Forensic Chemistry Fighting Crimes in the Community”. It was an enlightening webinar to learn about various work conducted by forensic chemists at government laboratories and NSW police force, as well as some of the current research work in forensic chemistry. On behalf of the Analytical and Environmental Chemistry Group, Danny Slee (National Measurement Institute) has kindly provided a report on the event in this Newsletter. The Group has also planned to organise another webinar on forensic science in the next few months. Do keep an eye on the list of events planned by the Group. How exciting that the Industrial Chemistry Group had also recently organised a laboratory tour at Ceramisphere, after not being able to do so for more than a year! It was also very encouraging to see quite a group of student members in the tour as well. Thank you to the Industrial Chemistry Group for your effort in making this happen! Thank you for a report on this event by Matthew Wilkinson!
It is disheartening to see on television pictures of the conditions in India caused by the rapid spread of Covid-19! This has reminded us on how fortunate we are in Australia and our effective ways of keeping the pandemic under control. However, it is still necessary for every one of us to remain alert and I urge members to be vaccinated when it is for your age group to do so. To all members who may have family and friends in India, you are in our thoughts and I hope your family and friends are able to stay safe in India! உங்களுக்கு வாழ்த்துக்கள் (Tamil) or आपको शुभकामनाएं (Hindi)!
Danny Wong
RACI NSW Branch President
“Nurture the passion, discover the possibilities"
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