Inspired at ACS (American Chemical Society)

The word I would use to describe the ACS conference is inspiring. The conference center itself was massive and decorated with signs welcoming everyone to the conference. Inside, hundreds of Ph.Ds. from around the world presented their research findings. As an attendee I was able to go from room to room and listen to the talks I found most interesting. I listened to a series of presentations on the S-adenosyl methionine radical reactions and my whole group went to Dr. Paull’s presentation on increasing student-researcher efficacy.  Everyone attending was very accessible and willing to discuss new ideas or critiques, making the ACS conference a great environment for learning. 

I was honored to present my poster along with over a thousand other students from across the world. Posters were categorized as containing information pertaining to organic, inorganic, biological, technological, computational, and environmental chemistry. The poster presentations were my favorite part of the conference because of the diversity of the projects and the casual nature of the presentations. I was able to ask the students to elaborate on their projects and was exposed to lots of new ideas and information that I otherwise would never have known existed.

I really enjoyed the Expo and Career Fair as well. It was great to see interview rooms set up in the fair, which showed the companies there were serious about recruiting and hiring people at the ACS. I also saw a lot of new technology and spoke to liaisons who explained how their equipment was the newest and best in the field. The Expo even had interactive components where members could take pictures in front of the periodic table or vote on the best element, I chose Silver because it was in the top two.

           I left the conference with a feeling of well-being, knowing that so many intelligent people were putting their knowledge toward good causes, such as curing cancer or solving environmental pollution issues. I think my knowledge base has expanded as a result of the conference, because I am more aware of all the different types of fields a chemist could excel in. I would recommend that any future student try to attend an ACS or similar conference because it is an experience unlike anything else in college and will have rewards far beyond graduation. 

Student: Camille Knudstrup