NZIC Wellington Branch Events
NZIC Wellington Branch High Schools Quiz
This year’s quiz was held on Wednesday 21 June at Victoria University of Wellington. Schools from around the greater Wellington region attended the quiz with around 100 Year 12 and 13 students and teachers participating. This evening event started with a spectacular luminol reaction display which lit up the hall, followed by the chemistry quiz to challenge, extend, and inspire young minds. Congratulations to the winning teams from Newlands college (1st place), Wellington College (2nd place) and Samuel Marsden Collegiate School (3rd place).
NZIC titration competition
The Wellington NZIC 2023 titration competition was also held on Wednesday 21 June, earlier in the day before the chemistry schools quiz. In this competition, high school students titrated apple juice to determine the concentration of vitamin C. Congratulations to Lucy Nixon (1st place), Daniella Caccia-Birch (2nd place) and Aidah Alam (3rd place) all from Tawa College.
President of Royal Society of Chemistry visit – Professor Gill Reid
Professor Gill Reid, President of the Royal Society of Chemistry, was in Wellington for ICCOC-GTL17 (the 17th International Conference on the Coordination and Organometallic Chemistry of Germanium, Tin and Lead) visiting RSC and NZIC members on Friday 1 September at the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences at VUW. Gill inspired the group on the visions, goals and aspirations of the RSC and the strategies being used to achieve them. Topics such as the climate change, diversity and equity, Commonwealth Chemistry and the society journals were discussed. Gill advocated all RSC journals becoming open access, with scientists in more countries being able to access the publications, both as readers and authors. This meeting was followed by an enjoyable dinner at the Boatshed beside Wellington Harbour.
Presentation by Professor Jim Johnston
On Tuesday evening, 19 September, Professor Jim Johnston gave an enthralling, well attended presentation on his work developing new chemistry technologies and successfully commercialising these entitled, New chemistry and technology based products and processes: the journey from the bright idea to commercialisation. Jim spoke of the initial bright ideas and the ensuing development and commercialisation of them by him and his team through their start-up companies Inhibit Coatings Ltd and CaSil Technologies Ltd. This presentation was timely, following his announcement the day before that he will be retiring from his academic position at Victoria University of Wellington as Professor of Chemistry at the end of the year, and take up a new role as Research Professor.
Bringing chemistry to our community
NIWA science fair
On Thursday 31 August the NIWA Wellington Schools Science and Technology Fair was held at VUW. With 281 exhibits presented by school students from Years 6 to 11, this was a busy and action-packed day. The exhibits included displays testing bacteria, propellers, the effects of different energy drinks, ocean acidification and the impact on shellfish shells. The overall winner was Year 11 student Jesse Rumball Smith from Wellington College who developed an app for promoting road safety.
Visit to Pomare primary school
This trimester Emma Dangerfield represented NZIC and VUW at an outreach to Pomare school, Wellington. Here she inspired young minds to think about chemistry and the molecules around us by using hands on experiments with vinegar, baking soda and cabbage extract as a pH indicator.
Pasifika Year 11 Day
The Pasifika Year 11 Day was held at VUW on 30 August to introduce Pasifika students to the Victoria University of Wellington campus and to explore what the university could offer. Students came from all over the Wellington region, including Hutt Valley, Wellington City, Porirua, Horowhenua and Wairarapa. The university welcomed more than 200 students. Chemistry ran a couple of great hands-on sessions including simple chromatography, alginate worms and non-Newtonian fluids (aka corn-starch and water).
Chemistry escape room
On 5 July SCPS hosted a small group of students from Tauhara North No2 Trust - from all around New Zealand for a Tech Bootcamp, co-ordinated by Tahlia Crabtree. SCPS ran a chemistry escape room experience, where students had 60 min of brain-teasing fun. The students worked together in small groups using their chemistry knowledge to find equipment, hidden clues, crack codes, solve puzzles and ultimately find the code to open the padlock to a treats jar.
Newlands College
SCPS hosted 60 students from Newlands College for an outreach session on 26 June. Their goal was to synthesise aspirin, recrystalise their crude product and then to identify their product by thin layer chromatography. Short tours of the EM suite, NMR facility and XRD instrument were also conducted during the time the students were here.
Conferences
ICCOCGLT17
The International Conference on the Coordination and Organometallic Chemistry of Germanium, Tin and Lead (ICCOCGLT17) was held at Rutherford house from 27 August – 1 September. This conference series brings together top researchers in the field from all over the world, including Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and India. Although first started in 1974, this was only the second time this conference series has taken place in the southern hemisphere.
Notable speakers included Professor Stefanie Dehnen, the executive director of the Institute of Nanotechnology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the chief editor of Inorganic Chemistry (the nature index journal for inorganic chemistry) as well as Professor Gill Reid from the University of Southampton and the current president of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Our own George Smith gave an oral presentation on the electronic properties of the first Pb-Al bond and Andrea O’Rielly presented a poster on her mixed pinacol coupling reactions. This conference was chaired by Robin Fulton, but a big thank you to Mat Anker for help in the run-up and behind the scenes support during the event (and for directing delegates to the good drinking establishments in the area), Martyn Coles for organising the abstract book and other help during the week, Sarah Stephen for organising the lunches, teas and other amazing support at Rutherford house (and providing fabulous restaurant ideas to the delegates!), Racel Reyes for helping with last minute panics as well as Rutherford House support and Kara Eaton for organising and running the refreshments for the poster session.
2023 Dodd-Walls Symposium
The Davis Group attended the 2023 Dodd-Walls Symposium in Rotorua. Congratulations to Calum Gordon who was awarded Best Talk award and Alaigne Maré, Liselotte Nass and Sanutep Chan who received the Best Poster Awards. The Davis Group also won the coveted Outreach Education Championship Trophy.
PhD completions
Congratulations to Calum Gordon who successfully defended his PhD on 25 July 2023.
Ferrier Research Institute
Funding Success
Congratulations to Te Kāuru - Ferrier Research Institute's Dr Daniel Berry and Dr Farah Lamiable-Oulaidi for their success in this year's MBIE Smart Ideas fund. They will develop technologies to produce high-value molecules and new medicines to treat Krabbe Disease respectively.
Congratulations to Dr Olga Zubkova from Ferrier and Drs John Taylor and Natalie Netzler from Auckland University on their Maurice Wilkins Centre success! They have secured $40,000 in funding to pursue their work on heparan sulfate mimetics as potential antiviral agents.
Congratulations to PhD student Lucy Hughes on receiving the Maurice Wilkins Centre travel grant! She will be visiting Professor David Vocadlo's lab at Simon Fraser University in Canada to conduct tests on her compounds using patient-derived cells for Krabbe disease.
Development of mRNA-based vaccine
In an impressive collaborative effort between Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington, Te Kāuru - The Ferrier Research Institute, the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research in New Zealand and The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Australia, ground-breaking research has resulted in the development of an mRNA-based vaccine. This innovative vaccine demonstrates the ability to precisely target and activate protective immune responses against the Plasmodium parasite, which is responsible for causing malaria, as demonstrated in preclinical models. Links below for more information:
New role for Professor Emily Parker
Fantastic news that Professor Emily Parker from Ferrier is taking on her new role as a Departmental Science Advisor (DSA) at MBIE. Together with CSA Gill Jolly and fellow DSAs Louise Parr-Brownlie and David Hutchinson, they will play a pivotal role in bolstering the ongoing reforms within New Zealand's research, science and innovation sector.
RNA platform
We're thrilled to share that the Assessment Panel has recommended and MBIE have approved our Platform Plan and conceptual framework for the Pillars. They found the plan well-balanced in addressing both technical and non-technical aspects. To navigate the evolving landscape, we'll establish an independent, skill-based steering group for the Platform. Now, we're moving into the contracting phase with MBIE and can officially kickstart platform launch activities. The newly launched RNA development platform is now live. Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington and Waipapa Taumata Rau – the University of Auckland are partnering to develop and co-host the approved RNA Development Platform, with support from the Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou – the University of Otago and the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research.
Eurocarb21
Ferrier’s team presented at the Eurocarb21 symposium in Paris in July:
Kai Iwi marae welcome scientists
The Kai Iwi marae in Ngaa Rauru, located just north of Whanganui, recently welcomed a diverse group of scientists from across the country including Ferrier’s Dr Wanting Jiao, Dr Andreas Luxemburger and Professor Richard Furneaux to discuss pest control strategies incorporating mātauranga Māori. Zoologist Dr Billy van Uitregt led the wānanga, advocating for the eradication of pests in a manner that aligns with both humane practices and cultural sensitivities.
Discussion was around the importance of encouraging more young Māori individuals to pursue studies in science, particularly in the field of chemistry. This, they noted, would pave the way for Māori to assume greater influence and leadership roles within the sector. See more here
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