RACI E-News June 2016

Dear RACI NSW Branch Members,

Welcome to the RACI NSW newsletter for June 2016. My name is Luke Hunter, and

I’m the Honorary Treasurer of the NSW Branch.

Our Branch President, Joseph Bevitt, is spending a good part of this month overseas.

We wish him well on his travels. Joseph has already done a thorough job of

broadcasting the upcoming events within the Branch, so instead of repeating him

this month, I thought I’d take a different tack and tell you a little about my role as

Branch Treasurer.

What does my role entail? Basically, I help the various NSW Groups and Sections to

craft their budgets for the coming years, and then make sure they stick to them!

The first part is a planning role. It’s a privilege for me to be able to offer advice to the

various Groups and Sections as they plan their upcoming activities to benefit

members. Running events in a financially sustainable way can pose challenges

particularly for some of our Sections, whose members may be dispersed over a large

geographical area. I do my best to provide suggestions and assistance to the

various committees as they navigate this sometimes tricky planning stage.

Of course, the NSW Branch office itself is very active too, so I’m involved in the

planning and budgeting for our own events including the Crystal Growing

Competition, the Nyholm Youth Lecture Series, our President’s Dinner and the annual

Fellows’ Lunch.

The second part of my role is more procedural. A lot of receipts and reimbursement

requests cross my desk. It’s my responsibility to make sure that expenditure is in line

with budget in each case, and then to approve transactions where appropriate.

The Honorary Treasurer role is a volunteer position, which I’ve held since 2012. (In my

spare time, I’m a teaching and research academic in the UNSW School of

Chemistry.) It’s been a fascinating experience for me to get involved “behind the

scenes” in the planning and running of the RACI.

Enjoy the read.

Luke Hunter RACI NSW Honorary Treasurer

"Nurture the passion, discover the possibilities"

Inside this Issue 1 Message from the

President

2 Calendar of Events

3 Rowe Scientific

4 NSW Branch Committee

5 Tania Notaras – Fellow

6 RACI Fellows

7 Forum on the future of chemistry

8 IUPAC Conference

9 National Science Week

10 HSC Enrichment

11 NSW BDDG event report

12 Save the date: NSW BDDG

13 Chem Ed: Nanoscience

14 Industrial Group: Are you GHS ready?

15 Industrial Chemistry report

16 Western Sydney Section report

17 Volunteers wanted

18 Position Vacant

19 Chemistry in the media

RACI E-News JUNE 2016 PAGE 2

Calendar of Events 2016

Registration details can usually be found on the RACI Events website: www.raci.org.au/events.

If you have an event you would like to publicise please contact raci-nsw@raci.org.au.

Date / Day Time Event Venue Details

6 July

Wednesday

4.00pm –

6.00pm

Forum on the Future of

Chemistry

UNSW John Niland

Scientia Building –

Tyree Room

http://www.science.uns

w.edu.au/events/forum

-future-chemistry

1 August

Monday 6.00pm

Guild Research Awards

Presentation Lecture Evening

Trinity Grammar

School, Summer

Hill Campus

president@teachersguil

d.nsw.edu.au

2 August

Tuesday

5.00pm for

5.30pm start

NSW Chem Ed

Nanoscience PL

University of

Sydney

http://bit.ly/292l0yz

2 August

Tuesday

To be

advertised

NSW Bioactive Discovery and

Development Group

Dinner event: guest speaker

Dr Susan Pond AM FTSE

To follow To follow

raci-nsw@raci.org.au

21 August

Saturday All day

RACI takes part in Sydney

Science Festival

Powerhouse

Museum

(note change of

venue)

raci-nsw@raci.org.au

21 August

Saturday

10.00am –

3.30pm

Indigenous Science

Experience @ Redfern Family

Science Fun Day

Redfern

Community

Centre

www.facebook.com/NI

SEP.MQ

23 August

Tuesday

6.30pm for

6.45pm start

NSW Industrial Chemistry

Group

Are You GHS Ready?

UNSW

(immediately

following the

August branch

committee

meeting)

https://www.raci.org.au

/events/event/nsw-

industrial-group-are-

you-ghs-ready

RACI E-News JUNE 2016 PAGE 3

2016 RACI NSW BRANCH COMMITTEE Office-bearers and Elected Members

Tania Notaras – Congratulations on RACI Fellowship At an early age, Tania Notaras spent many weekends assisting her older brother, Dr Boban Markovic with

experiments in the garage. This early influence and the additional support and

encouragement from her mother Mira inspired her to choose a career in science.

Notaras commenced her career under an industry traineeship in 1988 that quickly led

to her appointment to various technical and management roles. Applying her talent

and passion to continue developing the industry and creating efficiencies, Notaras

emerged as a business leader in her field, locally and overseas. Notaras’ major impact

to the industry was in 2005 as Managing Director and founder of Envirolab Services in

Sydney and acquisition of MPL Laboratories Perth in 2010. From humble beginnings, this

is now a successful, multimillion dollar commercial enterprise with offices and

laboratories across Australia providing reliable, quality professional services for the

environment and WHS sectors.

Notaras gives back to the profession by supporting the career development of her staff and offering

industry placements for students. She is a mentor of women in industry, supports various student

development programs and sponsors technical and professional meetings. She was a Telstra Business

Women’s Award Finalist in 2008 and appointed as a 2009 Women in Business Mentor, while also holding

membership of the exclusive Executive Connection (TEC) since 2010.

From personal efforts and strategic alliances, Notaras is today sought for expert technical advice and

guidance by decision makers in industry and government instrumentalities. These services have extended to

assisting in the setting of industry standards and offering advice on regulations, and recognition through

industry award nominations.

Notaras also actively and voluntarily undertakes senior leadership roles in RACI affairs. This is illustrated by her

2015–17 successful nomination to the RACI New South Wales Branch as PresidentElect and election to the

RACI Board as an Ordinary Board Member. Attending RACI events has also assisted Notaras in her

continued career development and business endeavours.

Alongside her successful professional career, Notaras has been happily married to her husband John for 26

years and is the proud mother of Natalie and Daniel.

This article originally appeared in Chemistry in Australia.

Would you like to become a RACI Fellow? The RACI Fellow Membership grade is awarded in recognition of a RACI Member (MRACI) who is in a

position of eminence within the chemistry profession.

Election to this grade is based on:

Services rendered to the RACI

Academic qualifications and honours

Experience and status

Creative achievement in chemistry

Responsibility and contribution to chemical science

Acceptance as a RACI Fellow will be based on the recommendation of the RACI Assessment Committee.

Further information: raci-nsw@raci.org.au

L to R: Joseph Bevitt (President), Tania Notaras (President-Elect), Robert Ryan (Hon Secretary),

Luke Hunter (Hon Treasurer), Lidia Matesic, Dave Sammut, Mohammad Choucair, Andrew Jones,

Roger Read (Immediate Past-President)

RACI E-News JUNE 2016 PAGE 4

Forum on the Future of Chemistry @ UNSW - 6th July 2016 UNSW John Niland Scientia Building – Tyree Room, 4 -6 pm.

Opening address: Prof. George Whitesides – Harvard University

Panel members:

George Whitesides Prof. Harvard University.

Andrew Holmes President of the Australian Academy of Science, Prof. School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne.

Peter Götlitz Editor-in-Chief of Angewandte Chemie, Wiley-VCH.

Justin Gooding Deputy HoS Chemistry, UNSW, co-chair of the Australian Nanomedicine Centre, and ARC Laureate Fellow.

Veena Sahajwalla Director SMaRT@UNSW, Associate Dean Strategic Industry Relations – Science UNSW, and ARC Laureate Fellow.

Peter Junk President Elect of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) & Prof. James Cook University Townsville.

MC: A/Prof. Pall Thordarson UNSW.

Attendance is free! Everyone interested in the Future of Chemistry is welcome. The panel discussion will run in Q&A format with plenty of opportunities for the audience to contribute to the discussion. Light refreshments will be provided before and after the event. While not necessary, to help us planning / catering we encourage you to register your interest by clicking on this link here. Event organisers: School of Chemistry UNSW, Faculty of Science UNSW, Systems Chemistry Australia & 23rd IUPAC Conference on Physical Chemistry (ICPOC23)

Sponsors

• Angewandte Chemie International Edition (Wiley-VCH)

• Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI)

• ARC Centre of Excellence in Bio-Nano Science (CBNS)

RACI E-News JUNE 2016 PAGE 5

23rd IUPAC Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry ICPOC is a biannual conference, with the previous two

being held in Durham, UK (ICPOC21, 2012) and Ottawa,

Canada (ICPOC22, 2014). Physical organic chemistry of

this conference series is viewed as 'a broad church'

encompassing not just the traditional physical organic

areas of mechanism, reactivity and structure but

extending into biology, materials science and systems

chemistry. Accordingly, the streams of this conference

will be:

Physical Foundations of Organic Reactivity

Mechanism and Bioorganic Chemistry

Supramolecular and Systems Chemistry

Confirmed speakers include 2013 Nobel Laureate Prof

Arieh Warshel, and the world's most cited chemist, Prof

George Whitesides. More information can be found here: http://www.icpoc23.unsw.edu.au/

Celebrate National Science Week with Indigenous and

Western Science As part of the Indigenous Science Experience @ Redfern event, the National Indigenous Science Education

Program, Macquarie University, Inspiring Australia, Redfern Community Centre and the City of Sydney will

host a celebration of Indigenous and Western science, demonstrating the value of traditional knowledge

and Aboriginal culture in science and the relevance of science to our everyday lives.

Come along to the Family Science Fun Day at the Redfern Community Centre on Sunday August 21 from

10am-3.30pm.

Get hands on with a range of science activities including chemistry, physics,

biology, earth and environmental science, astronomy and mathematics. Check

out some bush foods and medicines and have a yarn with Aboriginal Elders. Try

your hand at building a traditional tool or making Aboriginal jewellery using

traditional methods... and much more!

This is a free event and no bookings are needed. For more information go to

www.facebook.com/NISEP.MQ or http://www.scienceweek.net.au/events/

Ph: (02) 9850 8283 (NISEP) OR (02) 9288 5713

Image: Isaachar Fraser from Casino High School demonstrating the wonders of dry ice.

Get prepared – get into HSC Physics and Chemistry

Enrichment Macquarie University will be holding Higher School Certificate (HSC) Enrichment Programs to assist high

school students in preparing for their HSC Physics or Chemistry examinations. These exciting one-day

programs will be for Year 12 students sitting their HSC in NSW and the ACT in 2016. The HSC Enrichment

Programs will be presented by Macquarie University academics on core and elective subject areas of the

HSC Physics syllabus and core subject areas of the HSC Chemistry syllabus. When: Tuesday July 12 for the

Physics Day Wednesday July 13 for the Chemistry Day

For more details please see http://science.mq.edu.au/hsc-enrichment-day/

RACI E-News JUNE 2016 PAGE 6

RACI NSW Bioactive Discovery and Development Group

(NSW BDDG): Launch Event 2016 The inaugural event to launch the RACI NSW Bioactive Discovery and Development Group (NSW BDDG)

was held on the evening of Tuesday 31 May 2016 in the Atrium of ATP Innovations. The NSW BDDG provides

a forum aimed to better integrate research on the discovery and development of bioactive molecules with

industry.

The Chair of the NSW BDDG group – Dr Jess Gledhill – opened the formal proceedings and facilitated a

short series of presentations from the four invited speakers, which included Prof Phil Robinson from the

University of Sydney, Dr Bronwyn Evans from Standards Australia and the Industry Growth Centre for Medical

Technologies & Pharmaceuticals, Kathy Connell from Johnson & Johnson Innovation, and Dr Charles Lindall

from CSIRO Medical Health and Biosecurity. Also in attendance was the Director of the Office of the NSW

Chief Scientist and Engineer – Dr Chris Armstrong.

The launch event was attended by over 70 delegates across a broad range of sectors, including academia

(University of Sydney, University of Technology Sydney, University of New South Wales, University of

Wollongong, Macquarie University, Australian National University, The Victor Chang Cardiac Research

Institute, St Vincent’s Centre for Applied Medical Research), industry (Pharmaxsis, Abbvie, APAF, ALS Global,

Bioplatforms Australia, Chemika, Jurox, Ondek, MTP Connect, Phebra, SpeeDx), IP (FB Rice, Davies Collison

Cave, Griffith Hack, Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick), commercial law (DibbsBarker), consulting (Mokita, Corelli)

and government (Austrade, NSW Health). The breadth of the affiliations showcases the interest in and need

for such a group, with attendees enjoying the networking occasion with a drink and canape in hand

sheltered from the miserable weather.

The next NSW BDDG event is scheduled for the evening of 2 August. The speaker will be Prof Susan Pond AM.

Details to follow.

RACI E-News JUNE 2016 PAGE 7

RACI E-News JUNE 2016 PAGE 8

The NSW Industrial Chemistry Group Presents:

Are you GHS ready? GHS for classification of chemical products, labelling and safety data sheets will be mandatory from 1st January 2017. As from this date, manufacturers, importers and transporters of hazardous chemicals must ensure that chemicals are correctly labelled. GHS stands for Global Harmonised System of classification and labelling of chemicals and was developed by the United Nations to provide a Global Standard for chemical labelling using signal words and pictograms, as well as hazard and precautionary statements to inform workers and avoid potentially dangerous incidents. Greg Deitch an expert in this area will steer us though this important area of transport, storage and handling of chemicals. Date: Tuesday 23rd August 2016 Time: After the Branch Committee Meeting Starting at 5.00pm (Branch Meeting start -Everyone welcome) Registrations starts @ 6.30 -Talk starts 6.45pm Duration: 30 – 45 minutes Venue: UNSW Seminar Room Dalton Building Ground floor G05 (next to RACI office), UNSW Dinner: networking after the event dinner at Mamma Teresa’s Restaurant, Kingsford at own expense

About the speaker. Greg Deitch (Director) Greg has been involved in the chemical industry since the mid-1980’s with responsibilities including research and development, product registrations and approvals (Australian, European and American regulatory compliance), chemical toxicology profiling, project management of multimillion dollar IT projects and service delivery of national & international consulting projects. Significant work experience includes:

Implementation of HazMat web application for over 10,000 Telstra network sites.

Project management of asbestos auditing of >4,000 Telstra network sites.

Implementation and management of HaRMS web application for Mitre 10 Australia, Bostik Australia, Bostik New Zealand and Macquarie Bank.

Implementation of SAP MSDS module for Orica (formally ICI Australia).

Development and implementation of the Works MSDS System for Orica.

Consulting toxicologist for Orica.

Manage and complete product registrations, for numerous local and international organisations, with Australian (APVMA, NICNAS, Dept of Health), American (USEPA) and European (REACH) Authorities.

Project manage the review of indoor and ambient air pollutant indicators and monitoring methods for the Victorian Commissioner for the Environment.

Re-formulation of the complete Defender Garden Products’ product range.

Design and installation of 5 ton/hour Pelletising Plant for Defender Garden Products.

Register on line follow this link: https://www.raci.org.au/events/event/nsw-industrial-group-are-you-ghs-ready

RACI E-News JUNE 2016 PAGE 9

Industrial Chemistry Group Report A Successful Site Visit

The site visit to Era Polymers on Thursday 16 May evening, was a success. Approx. 15 people from many

areas including academia, Industry, students and consultants. We were shown the various labs, from r and d

labs in foam and coatings, to the performance labs which are NATA registered. The tour was enthralling

and finished with a presentation of the history of the business, to the present and the future of the chemical

industry. The company now exports 78 countries.

The next event on 23 August is entitled “Are You GHS Ready?” Registrations can be made here:

https://www.raci.org.au/events/event/nsw-industrial-group-are-you-ghs-ready

Western Sydney Section Report On 27 April there was a record attendance (55 students, 5 public and 2

committee) at WSU Hawkesbury campus to hear Professor Shari Forbes , School

of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at UTS Sydney, (pictured right) speak

on CSI Hawkesbury: Decomposition Chemistry and the Detection of Human

Remains. This was followed by very interesting questions from the audience.

On 17 May the WSU Campbelltown campus hosted a lecture by Dr John

Kalaitzis from UNSW School of Biotechnology & Bimolecular Sciences

titled Genomics-driven Discovery, Biosynthesis, and Engineering of Microbial

Natural Products . One student and one member of the public were

outnumbered 2:1 by the Committee. Nevertheless this enjoyable lecture went

over time and discussion continued afterwards at a local restaurant .

Details have not yet been finalised for two more lectures scheduled later this

year.

Outreach Events – volunteers needed

The RACI NSW Branch Office regularly seeks volunteers to help with attending stalls

during university open days and science teacher (AISNSW and STANSW) events. It is

a great way to meet members and prospective members and promoting our

school competitions to science teachers. If you know of any events that the RACI

can attend to promote its service or are an RACI member and would like to

volunteer to attend a stall, please contact raci-nsw@raci.org.au

Positions vacant? We invite employers to supply 150-word maximum job advertisements, along with a small company logo

and clear contact details or weblink. Please email .

For enquiries: RACI NSW Branch Office: (02) 9663 4960

RACI National Office (Vale St, North Melbourne): (03) 9328 2033

Chemistry in the Media

Infographic: How much does Australia spend on science and research: http://bit.ly/28MnYuf

How to impress visitors to your lab: http://bit.ly/29sDmLd

Like our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/RACInational/