RSC Belgium explores Mars!

On Tuesday 26 November a packed Swoosh Lounge at the British School of Brussels heard about the exploration of Mars from Dr. Ann Carine Vandaele of the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomie (BISA). The fascinating talk took RSC members and friends through the long history of humanity’s missions to Mars. And then brought us up-to-date with the next planned explorations in which Ann herself is involved.

Ann (below) is Head of Planetary Aeronomie at the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomie based at the Uccle Observatory and is the Principal Investigator for the NOMAD (Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery) spectrometer suite that will identify components of the Martian atmosphere on board the planned 2016 ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Mission.

Ann started her talk by comparing the Earth and Mars and their atmospheres and then outlined the history and objectives of the various missions that have been sent to Mars since the 1960s – including some heroic failures and the many notable successes.

The first flights to Mars were made by Soviet craft but the first real success was the US Mariner 9 flight in 1971. The Viking landers followed in 1975 and the Spirit and Opportunity rovers in 2003. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) first mission was the Mars Express in 2005.

All these missions have given us growing evidence that there was a large amount of water on Mars in the past and, indeed, there is a reasonable supply on the planet still – just not on the surface.

The latest mission is of course the NASA Curiosity rover with its powerful array of chemical instruments in what is essentially a mobile science lab.

ExoMars
The ExoMars (Exobiology on Mars) is the next major scientific mission to Mars and will be searching for that elusive ‘biosignature’ of Martian life past or present. The Viking missions sent back data that may or may not have indicated that (bacterial) life is present now on Mars. The ExoMars mission is currently under development by the European and Russian Space Agencies (ESA and Roscosmos) having been originally planned as a NASA-ESA joint venture. The ExoMars programme includes several elements that will probably be sent to Mars on two launches in 2016 and 2018.

NOMAD, the “Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery” European instrument was selected as part of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter mission for 2016. It will conduct a spectroscopic survey of the atmosphere of Mars in the ultraviolet (UV), visible and infrared (IR) spectral regions. Its primary objective will be to improve our knowledge of the vertical structure and composition of the atmosphere of the ‘red planet’.

All in all this was an extremely interesting talk that kept an audience of well over 40 members and friends enthralled. Plenty of questions were asked and the discussion continued over drinks and light refreshments.

G4G IV: The Global Experiment

At the start of the RSC's Chemistry Week RSC Belgium took the RSC Global Experiment 2013 to the fourth Greenlight for Girls Day in Brussels on Saturday November 16. In all around 100 girls took part in the experiment in two packed workshop sessions. The venue for G4G IV was the International School of Brussels in Watermael-Boitsfort. The RSC team had a great time running the workshops in which the girls measured the vitamin C content of fruits and vegetables.

Puctured above is the RSC Belgium team for the day with a couple of G4G enthusiasts. The RSC Belgium team consisted of (from left to right above) ElisaMaupas, Sophie Hollanders, Kim Eekelers and RSC executive committee member Becki Scott with section secretary Tim Reynolds (behind the camera). 

Each of the workshops brought together around an enthusiastic group of fifty young women aged 11 to 15. Most participants were anglophone but the RSC Belgium team was ready and able to work with the girls in French and Dutch too. 

Each of the students got to do the RSC Global experiment calibrating for vitamin 'C' and then assessing the vitamin in  a range of fruit and vegetable: apple, kiwi fruit, oranges, cauliflower and broccoli. Amazingly, despite the vast numbers, no one painted themselves in iodine! 

"The kids had a really good time," said Tim Reynolds. "It was challenging to get everything done in the 45 minutes allocated to the workshop sessions - but everyone got to do some 'hands-on chemistry' - and we all had some good fun."

Other chemical based workshops offered during the day included sessions on cosmetics and fragrances, 'bath bombs' and experiments from the hit TV series the 'Big Bang Theory'. Other workshops focused on IT, physics, engineering and biotechnology.

Over 200 young ladies attended the day had all had a great time taking some fantastic memories, a goody bag and their own personalised labcoats. RSC pens, stickers and fluffies were in great demand! 

About G4G
The Greenlight for Girls organisation is a Brussels-based, international non-profit organization that works to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to girls of all ages and backgrounds. The main aim is to stimulate greater participation of girls, young women and career-age women in STEM-related studies and careers. To achieve this mission, G4G carry out a range of activities around the world, with a special focus on reaching less-advantaged communities.

RSC Belgium has supported the GreenlightforGirls initiative from its inception in Brussels and provided workshop session at all four of the annual events so far. 

Chemistry World Science Communication Competition 2013

Are you passionate about science and keen to communicate to the widest possible audience? Think you could get your message across in fewer than 800 words or a five minute recording? Then the Chemistry World science communication competition 2013 is for you!

The competition offers a fantastic opportunity to show your skills and passion for communicating science. And there is a cash prize on offer too!

There are two categories in this year's competition: written and multimedia storyboards. Your chosen topic should be related to the chemical sciences and incorporate this year's theme: openness in science. The judges are looking for a modern, clear and concise style that will convey the significance and interest of the topic to the global readership of RSC's Chemistry World magazine.

The competition is open to students, postgrads and early career scientists anywhere in the world. And the competition is only open to new science writers; those people whose main source of income is through science writing or who have professional (paid) science writing experience are ineligible.

The competition closes on the 31 January 2014 and winners will be announced at a prize giving event at Burlington House in London on 5 March 2014.

To find out more, go to http://rsc.li/cwcompetition

Following on from Baekeland

A large audience of RSC Belgium members and friends found out about the history and applications of phenolic resins on the evening of 17 October in Tervuren. Gabriele Badini, Research Director of Momentive Specialty Chemicals GmbH also gave us some insights into how research and innovation is managed in the chemical industry.

The venue for Gabriele’s talk was the Hotel Rastelli in Tervuren. This brand new hotel is situated in Hornzeelstraat, Tervuren and had a good sized meeting room adjacent to the bar.

Phenolic resins are synthetic polymers obtained by the reaction of phenol (or substituted phenol) with formaldehyde. They are used in a wide variety of applications from circuit boards to pool balls, and as coatings and adhesives. One of the first phenolic resins was Bakelite – the world’s first 100% synthetic commercial plastic – and brainchild of Belgium-born chemist Leo Baekeland in 1907.

Inspiration and innovation
Baekeland’s initial inspiration in formulating a synthetic resin was to produce a novel and cheap insulating material for application in the then burgeoning electricity supply industry. What he discovered was a material that had literally thousands of applications.

Gabrielle (above) took the audience through a range of applications for modern phenolic resins focusing on their chemistry and uses. Gabriele then described the research behind these products and how industrial chemical companies work to squeeze out new features and develop novel innovative products from chemistries that have been employed for decades.

He looked at how R&D projects are selected, what steps are required to drive an ‘Innovation Culture’ in a company and how the portfolio of R&D projects was managed.

He concluded that getting the right people and developing them to maximise their potential was the secret of success.

The talk concluded with a lively question and answer session.

Prizes, Metals and Metabolism

RSC Belgium opened its Autumn 2013 programme on 19 September at the British School of Brussels with a prize giving ceremony for the winners of the section's Chemistry Challenge 2013 competition . The ceremony was followed by a lecture from section chairman Prof. Bob Crichton on biological inorganic chemistry.

Well over 70 members and friends of the section attended and applauded the winners of the Chemistry Challenge in BSB's Brel theatre. To achieve top marks in the challenge, set by RSC Belgium Treasurer and former BSB teacher Rita Woodward,  needed exceptional knowledge of chemistry and a sharp mind.

The Chemical Challenge has three sections:  a chemistry multiple choice paper, a structured questions on chemistry, and a 'Thinking Matters' paper that is not chemistry based. 

Multiple choice
In the multiple choice section joint first were Jeannine Heetmeyer and Nathan Boydell of the European School Brussels 3 at Ixelles (EEB3). Joint second were Tim Overeem, Owen Tyers and Hangkuon Yi of the International School of Brussels (ISB) with Camila Nagoda of the European School Brussels 1 at Uccle (EEB1) and third was Kazuma Matsumoto of the British School of Brussels (BSB).

The prize winners able to be at BSB on 19 September are pictured below with Section Chairman Prof. Bob Crichton:

Structured Questions
In this very tough part of the Challenge first was Tim Overeem of ISB, with Ryan Moore of St John's International School Waterloo (St Johns) in second and third was was Patricia Martin (St Johns).

The three prize winners are pictured below with Prof. Crichton.

Thinking Matters
Our third section gives the non-chemists a chance but the questions are not easy and require some lateral thinking! In this section first prize went to Sofie Thiel (EEB3) with joint second prizes to Patricia Martin (St Johns) and Wendelin Lutz (EEB3) with Caitriona Murphy of the European School Brussels 2 at Woluwe (EEB2) in second place.

The prize winners able to be at BSB on 19 September are pictured below with Section Chairman Prof. Bob Crichton:

Keith Prize Prize
Tim Overeem of ISB (pictured below right) also received the Keith Price Prize from Bob Crichton for best overall score in sections A and B. First prize winners receive €50, second €25 and third places €10 with the winner of the Keith Price Prize receiving an additional €100. Who says chemistry can't make you rich!

Well done to all the students who participated in 2013 and to their teachers who supervised the Challenge at each of the schools. We will be running the Challenge again in 2014.

Whistle-stop tour
Biological inorganic chemistry is key to understanding almost all of the complex chemical processes underpinning biology and therefore our health. Following the prizes Prof Bob Crichton took his audience on a whistle-stop tour of the two dozen or so main metal ions that have a major role in metabolism.

The metals often have a complex role in the chemical processes that underpin life and recent discoveries that metal ions, such as zinc and copper, play a direct role in the development of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and BSE has created renewed interest in their role in biology.

Bob’s talk was largely based on the recently published second edition of his textbook: Biological Inorganic Chemistry. This revised and expanded second edition was the winner of a 2013 Texty Award from the Text and Academic Authors Association.

Further pictures
The event was followed by the usual question and answer session and an informal networking drinks reception.

The BSB photographer was present throughout the ceremony and lecture and there is an excellent gallery of photos from the 19 September event available on the BSB Flickr website.

2013 Chemistry Challenge Winners Announced

The results of the RSC Belgium Chemistry Challenge 2013 have just been announced and the talented prize winners will be picking up their winnings at a special RSC Belgium event on 19 September at BSB starting at 19:30. This year we received 85 eligible entries from seven international schools in this testing challenge of young people's chemical knowledge and initiative.

The RSC Belgium Chemical Challenge has three sections:

• A chemistry multiple choice paper
• A structured questions on chemistry, and
• A 'Thinking Matters' paper that is not chemistry based

And the top results were as follows:

Section A: Multiple choice

• Joint first were Jeannine Heetmeyer and Nathan Boydell of the European School Brussels 3 at Ixelles (EEB3) 
• Joint second were Tim Overeem, Owen Tyers and Hangkuon Yi of the International School of Brussels (ISB) with Camila Nagoda of the European School Brussels 1 at Uccle (EEB1)
• Third was Kazuma Matsumoto of the British School of Brussels (BSB)

Section B: Structured Questions

• First was Tim Overeem of ISB
• Second was Ryan Moore of St John's International School Waterloo (St Johns)
• Third was Patricia Martin (St Johns)

Section C: Thinking Matters

• First was Sofie Thiel (EEB3)
• Joint second were Patricia Martin (St Johns) and Wendelin Lutz (EEB3)
• Third was Caitriona Murphy of the European School Brussels 2 at Woluwe (EEB2)

Tim Overeem of ISB also receives the Keith Price Prize for best overall score in sections A and B. First prize winners recieve €50, second €25 and third places €10 with the winner of the Keith Price Prize receiving an additional €100.

Well done to everyone that took part! We will be running the Challenge again in 2014.

Challenge
The Chemistry Challenge competition was devised and compiled by RSC Belgium treasurer Rita Woodward and is open to students from any school in Belgium. The questions are set in English, but may be answered in English, French, Dutch or German.

The competition is open to school students in their penultimate year of High School (usually aged 16 – 17), and consists of a 2 hour written test held in school and designed to demonstrate the participants’ knowledge of chemistry and their ability to think logically.

A Right Royal Tour of Mechelen!

On the morning of Saturday June 1st a gaggle of RSC Belgium members and friends were treated to a right royal tour of the Flemish city of Mechelen. In company of no less a person than Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of vast swathes of both the 'old' and 'new' Worlde, we got to visit and admire many of the historical points of Mechelen - and to learn of a very good reason to return in the not-too-distant future.

Our group met up for the morning guided tour for a ten o'clock start. The tour was over two hours long and our host, Charles V (see below), was accomplished in his knowledge of the Englishe language. Mechelen had its heyday in the late 15th/early 16th century when it was the centre of Burgundian power over the Low Countries and the seed point for the Renaissance in the region.

Our tour started in the Grote Markt accompanied by the sounds and smells of the traditional Saturday Mechelen market and enlivened by a series of 'happy couples' and their entourages arriving via a wide variety of transports, from high-powered sports cars to butcher's bikes, to be wed at the Town Hall.

Town hall
Our tour started at the Town Hall where we were introduced to its distinct architectural styles and fabulous tapestries and continued to St. Rhombouts Cathedral with its renowned bells and carillon and the Palaces of Margaret of Austria and Margaret of York (below).

Charles V was full of anecdotes about his time in Mechelen and the history of Flanders, Spanish Netherlands and the lands beyond; not to mention his escapades with our own Henry VIII and his wars with France. All together a very merrie olde time was had by all.

Having said been bade farewell with a song by the Emperor (aka the excellent Mr. Rudi De Mets), the RSC group made for the Carlton Brasserie on Grote Markt where we warmed up and enjoyed some Flemish specialties including a taste of Mechelse Koekoek, the local poultry dish and a regional brew: Gouden Carolus beer - which is actually a 'brun'.

After lunch a few of the group carried on to visit Technopolis, the Flemish “hands-on”-centre for science and technology on the edge of the town. Technopolis offers young people aged 4 to 100 the chance to take part in a variety of experiments and experiences, including bridge building, riding a bicycle on a high wire five metres above the ground, having their hair stand on end and much much more.

Reason to return
A great time was had by one and all in Mechelen and a very good reason to return at the end of the summer was also revealed by old Charles V: the Hanswijk Cavalcade.

This historical religious procession is staged every 25 years so it is a rare treat to behold and the next Hanswijk Cavalcade will wend its way through the streets of Mechelen on Sunday 25 August and Sunday 1 September 2013. Traditionally the event is rounded off with the Mechelen Ommegang, which features the family of giants recognized as a UNESCO world heritage resource.

The Hanswijk Procession has made its way through the streets of Mechelen every year since 1273. On that day Mechelen's historic centre becomes the setting for a unique and colourful spectacle with hundreds of volunteers dressed in authentic costumes acting out historical and religious scenes. Since 1738 the Hanswijk Procession has celebrated its jubilee every twenty-five years in the form of the Cavalcade. See you there?