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RACI E-News May 2020 Dear members,

I hope everyone is in good health and is coping the best you can at home during

the current uncertain period. Incidentally, today is the first day that the

lockdown restrictions have slightly been relaxed in NSW.

Firstly, in following the social distancing and well-being requirements from the

Government, the Branch has decided to cancel our first annual social function,

the Fellows and Honorary Life Members Lunch, originally planned to be held

at L’Aqua, Darling Harbour, in May. Nonetheless, we are able to secure the

same venue for the same event in May 2021. Therefore, we can start looking

forward to enjoying a sumptuous lunch at this beautiful venue in the company

of fellow chemists next year. Meanwhile, the President’s Dinner and our AGM

are tentatively planned for September and October, respectively, provided that

we are able to return to some form of normality later in the year. We will of

course inform members about these events in due course.

Similarly, I regret to inform members that current circumstance has also led to

the cancellation of some of our very popular annual events including Titration

Competition and Crystal Growing Competition this year. All schools that had

planned to participate in these events have already been informed about this

decision and the Branch has started refunding these schools. However, the

Branch will do the best to make sure that these events will return stronger and

better in 2021.

In spite of the absence of any real-life interactive events at the moment, the

NSW Branch continues to work hard in organising online events, many of

which are through Zoom meetings, to engage with all members. In fact, the

Branch Committee has been alternating our face-to-face monthly meetings

with Zoom meetings for over three years now. This online system was

embraced by both The Pharmaceutical Science Group and The Young Chemists

Group in conducting their recent webinars and social functions in April. Both

groups have kindly presented a report on their respective event on page 4 and

7 of this Newsletter. It was encouraging to observe that all attendees at these

events appeared to manage well in getting the most benefits from their active

participation and have enjoyed the electronic interaction with the fellow

registrants, despite the vast physical distance among some of them. There will

be more online webinars and social events organised by various NSW groups

Inside this Issue

1 Message from the President

2 Calendar of Events 2020

3 Pharmaceutical Science

Group Webinar

4 Rowe Scientific

5 ChemAxon

6 Young Chemists’ Group Events

7 RACI Career Development Program 2020

8 NSW Polymer Group – Polymer Lunchbar

9 Ólle Prize 2019- Nominations open

10 Welcome New Members Update

11 GRAND PRIX 2020

12 RACI News Page

13 Become a RACI Fellow

14 New RACI Website

15 COVID-19 Testing

16 Chemistry in Australia

magazine

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in the upcoming months. I like to encourage all members to participate in many of these webinars and

social events to stay in touch with your fellow chemists.

A major task in April was for the Branch and all Groups / Sections to submit a budget for the next

financial year to the National Office. This is a requirement for any Groups / Sections planning on

organising any events / functions for members during the 2020-2021 financial year. This task was

coordinated by our Honorary Treasurer, Dr Lidia Matesic. Lidia reported during the April Branch

Meeting that all Groups and Sections expected to submit a budget have indeed made their submission

by the specified due date. For this, I like to thank Lidia for her mighty effort in coordinating the task

and also thank you to all Groups/Sections for their on-time submission.

Our Branch Coordinator, Claire Jung, has taken a few weeks off but she will resume her duty on 12th

May. In Claire’s absence, Caroline Collins from the National Office and Pam Chantrell, the Queensland

Branch Coordinator, were kind enough to jointly look after the NSW Branch. On behalf of the Branch,

I like to express our gratitude to both Caroline and Pam in ensuring all Branch matters were dealt with

smoothly in April and May.

Meanwhile, to all members, please continue to stay at home (unless you are engaged in essential jobs)

and stay healthy! Do not forget to often wash your hands too!

Danny Wong RACI NSW Branch President “Nurture the passion, discover the possibilities"

The next Branch Committee Meeting will be held on Tuesday, 26 May at 5.30 pm, via Zoom

From top left: Dr Danny Wong, Maree Stuart, Kris Mobberley, Tania Notaras, A/Prof Roger Read, Morgan Philp, David Springer, Scott Colbourne, Dr Sinead Keaveney, Dr CuhaWijah Sathiyajith, Dr Matthew Wilkinson during the 21st April Branch Committee Meeting via Zoom.

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Calendar of Events 2020

Date Title Location Further Info

5 May – 12pm AEST

Retirees “virtual” Lunch

Zoom https://www.raci.org.au/events/event/victorian-branch-retired-chemists-virtual-lunch

14 May 6.30pm AEST

Career Development Program 2020: Successful Women in Chemistry

Zoom https://www.raci.org.au/events/event/webinar-successful-women-in-chemistry

19 May Agvet Chemicals Regulatory Reforms – Discussion Webinar

Virtual https://www.raci.org.au/events/event/agvet-chemicals-regulatory-reforms-discussion-webinar

22 May NSW Pharma Group - Are there any antiviral drugs for COVID-19? How do antiviral drugs work?

Zoom TBA - https://www.raci.org.au/events

26 May 3pm AEST

Impact of Bushfire Smoke on Grapes and Wine Webinar

Zoom https://www.raci.org.au/events/event/impact-of-bushfire-smoke-on-grapes-and-wine

26-29 May 12pm AEST

NSW Polymer Group - Polymer Lunchbar

Zoom https://www.raci.org.au/events/event/nsw-polymer-group-polymer-lunchbar

2 June 12pm AEST

Retirees “virtual” Lunch Zoom https://www.raci.org.au/events/event/victorian-branch-retired-chemists-virtual-lunch-june20

6 June 3.30pm AEST

NSW Pharma Group - COVID-19 Seminar 3 – How is it detected, what is the effect of soap?

Zoom TBA - https://www.raci.org.au/events

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Pharmaceutical Science Group Webinar The Pharmaceutical Science Group organised a webinar titled How is the Pharmaceutical sector dealing with COVID-19? The program comprised of 10-minute introductions, followed by a Q&A session. The webinar host was Group Chair, Scott Colbourne and presentations and presenters were:

− Medicine manufacturer’s Perspective Gary Lay, Procurement manager, AstraZeneca

− Perspective from a Life Science industry supplier & leader: Merck Rebecca Lee, ANZ Managing Director, Merck

− Perspective from the European and US based Eurofins laboratories. Jennifer Wan, Division Leader – Eurofins BioPharma Product Testing

− Laboratory perspective Alan Doughty, CEO Chemika (analytical laboratory)

The organising committee made a conscious decision that questions were submitted by text, rather than by audio as the host could not simultaneously view all participants for a show of hands and direct audio would have participants talking over each other. There were 125 registrants and 113 total viewers and a maximum of 87 concurrent viewers. The webinar was recorded and can be found through the Pharm Group page on the RACI website https://www.raci.org.au/branches/nsw-branch/pharmaceutical-science-group Questions were submitted, followed by a verbal answer from a panelist. As edited, questions included: How do you expect a virtual TGA audit to happen? Over Zoom with a tablet travelling around your facility? As you (presenters) all work for organisations that provide a service to clients, I wanted to get an idea from you all regarding what your clients and contacts have been saying in regards to business getting back to normal or as normal as things can be here in Aus? I would like to meet our audience please - how many of us are there and where are they all from? Supply chain issues with longer lead times and delays in deliveries are a major challenge at present. It was mentioned that different supply routes are investigated and used to ensure deliveries to customers can be achieved. Can you discuss the impact of these changes on validation status for transport of medicinal products? What's your opinion about effort of some countries to find covid-19 vaccine? It looks like commercial competition. Why don't all nations collaborate to find it? You mentioned the shutdown of the clinical labs across Europe and USA. Under what circumstances do you think those sorts of activities where members of the public come into a laboratory would resume? Having a large sales force within Merck, how are you coping with the difficulty of your Sales force not being able to visit clients?

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For international organisations, do you think that there has been a greater sense of collaboration with online communication encouraged and hence perhaps a slightly greater sense of camaraderie across different countries within the organisation? Globalisation will stay. But the key vulnerability is in the supply chain: the current airline industry shut down is highlighting the difficulty to get the product here! Is there any intention to implement disinfection chambers or tunnels for personnel and materials using solutions like Chlorine, Hydrogen Peroxide, Alcohol base sanitizer, or other things? How about their safety & efficiency! Are your companies putting in place any special programs to manage the potential effect of COVID-19 on your employees’ mental health and if so would these be continued after COVID-19? MQB is busy developing virtual and desktop audits for local inspections. Version 14 of the PIC/S code of GMP will be implemented from mid-year, most likely July, any suggestions on how small companies ‘without multinational leverage’ should manage logistics and minimise delays to their clinical development programs? There is so much false information being disseminated. Are your employees worried about any of the information being spread about and how are you accessing experts to debunk some of the nonsense? How do you play Jenga with social distance? The Group is planning further webinars in late May and early June on Aspects of the Science of Covid-19. The Group again very much thanks the presenters and host. Most importantly, this webinar would not have been possible without the invaluable work in its preparation of Scott Colbourne and Qld Branch coordinator, Pam Chantrell. David Edmonds Treasurer RACI Pharmaceutical Science Group (NSW)

Clockwise from top left: Gary Lay, Procurement Manager, AstraZeneca, Jennifer Wan, Division Leader – Eurofins BioPharma Product Testing, Rebecca Lee, ANZ Managing Director, Merck, Dr Alan Doughty, CEO Chemika, Scott Colbourne, Pharm Group Chair, Customer Engagement Solution Owner, ALS

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https://chemaxon.com/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=advert&utm_campaign=RACI

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Young Chemists’ Group Events The NSW Young Chemists’ Group (YCG) held two online events recently, using two different formats on Zoom. On Wednesday, 18th March, YCG’s first online event was held, titled “My Career Journey”. Originally scheduled at Western Sydney University before being re-scheduled at Macquarie University, the move to Zoom was made at the last minute, with the COVID-19 situation making a face-to-face event on campus less appropriate, requiring a hasty change to event format and informing the registrants at short notice. As our first-time using Zoom, it was a bit of a learning curve for all to get to know how to use the platform. The conferencing format was used here, where all participants were able to see each other if they wanted to, jump into the conversation and talk (unless the host mutes them). Slides could be used just like any face-to-face event. During the 75-minute session, Dr Rama Nimmagadda (Analytical RnD) and Maree Stuart (MAS Management Systems) delivered a respective presentation about their career paths, from the time they were studying to their current careers as successful business owners. For the last 30 minutes of the session, plenty of questions were asked from a majority of the 20+ attendees, such as: - How did the interest in Mass Spectrometry came about? (Rama) - What is it like to be a female working in chemistry? (Maree) - Is it hard to get a job in chemistry? It was a valuable time for the attendees, as aspiring chemists, to be inspired by their current successes in their careers. More importantly, the event provided an opportunity for them to understand that, while all of them may graduate with a similar degree, everyone has a unique career path, and it may be "linear" like Rama's (largely working in one company before starting his own business) or "non-linear" like Maree's (from lab technician to NATA Accreditor to starting up a legal firm). On Wednesday, 22nd April, the event “Ask an Environmental Chemist” was held. This time, the webinar format was used here, where only the host and the designated ‘panellists’ appeared on screen – all other attendees were unable to see each other or know who else was attending. In addition, attendees were unable to jump into the conversation and talk without using the ‘raise hand’ feature). However, questions could be directed to the panellists using the ‘Q&A’ feature, though questions were not available to other attendees. Similar to the conference format, the chat section was there for attendees to message if they wished, and slides could be used. There were three environmental chemists, from three distinct areas:

- David Springer (Envirolab, which tests water and soil) - Martin Mazereeuw (TestSafe, which tests at industrial sites for exposure) - Karl Bowles (RPS, a consultancy, with a specialisation in PFAS)

The format was similar to the “My Career Journey” event, but with a focus on having attendees asking questions about the Environmental Industry, whether it be laboratory services, consultancy or fieldwork. The focus here was to clarify the scope of the environmental industry, as well as knowing the areas the industry now focuses on and what one needs to know if he/she is interested in a career in this industry.

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Each professional made a presentation about their company, work and career path to date, highlighting how different career paths can be despite having similar degrees. Both Martin and Karl did PhDs, but Martin spent time in the food, medical devices and clinical research industries before switching to the environmental industry, while Karl spent much of his career as a researcher at CSIRO, as a technical advisor in government, and part-time academic before moving into industry. David spent his entire career in industry, starting off as a laboratory chemist, before working his way up, and has been at Envirolab for over 15 years. After the presentations, a range of interesting and tricky questions were asked, such as:

- Given that SafeWork is currently revising chemical exposure standards, how will industry adapt to these changes?

- How do labs manage the quality of their analysis? - Is a PhD considered overqualified?

Owing to an overwhelming number of questions, unfortunately, there was insufficient time to provide a response for all questions. Interestingly, those questions were not along the lines of ‘how to get a job’, so it appeared that the attendees were asking about the nature of the work in the industry, rather than merely asking how to get into it. Once again, it was a valuable experience for the 25 or so attendees, regardless if they found strong interest in the environmental industry, or if they found out the industry is not for them. Despite having two different formats, the YCG Committee felt it was good to experiment with both, and recognise that both formats had pros and cons. Compared to the conference format, webinar format can allow a more rigid structure to the event, due to more controls the host has. However, with the control, the audience was not able to have any voice interaction without the host’s invitation. As YCG Committee Member Erin said: “I felt like I was watching a video…but not as interactive as I would have liked.” Also, there was no way to see who else was in the event, unless everyone makes themselves known in the chat. As YCG Secretary Jordan said: “It was a bit weird not seeing who else was in the chat…I guess it feels more impersonal.” Lastly, the webinar format allows the host to control the attendance before the start of the event, by only starting the webinar when the host does so, allowing the host to prepare with the panellists and be ready with the platform before letting the attendees in. The YCG would like to thank Maree, Rama, David, Martin and Karl for their valuable contributions of their insights and experience.

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RACI Career Development Program 2020

The 2020 Mentoring Programme has been affected, like everything, with the outbreak of COVID-19 and the banning of face-to-face meetings. Many meetings are moving to an on-line format and are open nationally, despite being run by a particular state or territory. All RACI members are encouraged to refer to the RACI Events Calendar https://www.raci.org.au/events. For more information contact the relevant Regional Coordinator. If you would like more information on the Mentoring Programme or Career Development Programme please email mentoring@raci.org.au or access the website here: https://www.raci.org.au/jobs-careers/career-development-program.

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NSW Polymer Group – Polymer Lunchbar Join the community from across our state to discuss the latest research in polymer science while you eat your lunch. Contributions are invited from all areas of the field including advanced synthesis and architectures, characterisation, polymer nanoparticles, molecular modelling, and the applications of polymers in nanomedicine, electronics, catalysis and energy. This is a free event, spread over 4 days, and provides an opportunity to meet with each other in a world where conferences have become much more difficult. The symposia will include: • Student / ECR research talks (10 min) • Rapid-fire research talks (2 min) • Tips and traps with instrumental techniques (presented by students) • Big science in the world: featuring short academic presentations of key papers they are reading in

the literature • Talks from industry on research in their companies • Structured break-out rooms where you will

meet other researchers from across NSW For further information, and to register, please go to: https://www.raci.org.au/events/event/nsw-polymer-group-polymer-lunchbar

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THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN CHEMICAL INSTITUTE New South Wales Branch

raci-nsw@raci.org.au

ARCHIBALD D. OLLÉ PRIZE 2019 Nominations are invited nationally for the Archibald D. Ollé Prize, an annual prize awarded to a member of the RACI who submits the best treatise, writing or paper on any subject relevant to the interests of the Institute. Archibald Ollé was very active in the chemical and scientific life of NSW in the first 40 years of the twentieth century, and his wife, who outlived him, left a bequest to the RACI NSW Branch to his name with an annual prize. The NSW Branch Committee administers the Prize and has established the following conditions: 1. Nominations are invited from candidates themselves or from persons knowing suitable candidates. 2. Nominees must be financial members of the RACI and have been so for the past 12 months. 3. Each nominee shall submit a single scientific work published during the period 1 January - 31 December

2019. 4. Nominations must be in writing, setting out the name, address, academic qualifications and present

position of the nominee and be signed by the nominee and nominator. 5. Where the work involves more than one author, the nominator should arrange for all the other authors

to send an indication of the contribution of the nominee. Though submission of multi-authored works is not discouraged, authors should be aware that in the past the adjudicators have found it very difficult to establish the relative merits of single and multi-authored works in terms of making an award to an individual

6. Nominations should be addressed to: The President The Royal Australian Chemical Institute, NSW Branch School of Chemistry UNSW Sydney 2052

Nominations must be received on or before Friday 19 June 2020.

Applications should be made in a single PDF document via the NSW Branch Office: raci-nsw@raci.org.au /RACI NSW c/o School of Chemistry, UNSW, Sydney, NSW2052.

Receipt will be acknowledged by return email. 7. In all matters relating to this Prize, the decision of the NSW Branch Committee shall be final, and the

Committee may not make an award if, in the opinion of the assessors, the submissions are not of a sufficiently high standard.

The result will be communicated to all entrants and will be published in “Chemistry in Australia”

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Welcome New Members Update- April 2020

We would like to welcome all new NSW members who joined the RACI in April 2020. As a professional membership organisation, we provide networking and special interest events during the year. Details of all Branch events can be found on the website: www.raci.org.au/branches/nsw-branch

Title Name Membership

Ms Giulia Oss MRACI

Dr Jiangtao Xu MRACI

Mr Peter Jeffrey MRACI CChem

Mr Yuchen Yao MRACI

GRAND PRIX 2020 - Call for nominations

Information sheet and application form are available on the website at: https://actions.maisondelachimie.com/les-prix-de-la-fondation/grand-prix-de-la-fondation/ Please send the completed entry form accompanied by a report in French or English, detailing the arguments for the nomination to Roger Read. (r.read@unsw.edu.au) Roger W Read, FRACI FRSN. Hon Associate Professor | School of Chemistry Room G07 | Dalton Building (F12), The University of New South Wales | UNSW Sydney NSW 2052 |

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RACI News page

Visit the RACI News page for all news and events nationwide: https://www.raci.org.au/raci-news On this page you can keep up to date with National events and activities that may be happening in your local area. If there is an event you would like published through social media, please contact: communications@raci.org.au and we will be happy to help.

If you’d like to keep up with the latest updates on our social media site, please visit the following:

Facebook: RACInational, Young Chemists Group of NSW LinkedIn: RACI company page Twitter: @RACInational or @RACI_NSW Instagram: racinational

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, contact: member@raci.org.au

New RACI website coming soon…

The team at RACI are working hard on delivering your new RACI website in the next few months. Your new website will make it easier for you to manage your memberships, provide simpler access to conferences and events, be a source of information on chemical sciences and awards, enable networking, and provide a host of educational resources.

This website is for our members and we would like to feature as many of you as possible. We currently have an opportunity for members to provide images and testimonials that will be used throughout the new website. If you would like to participate, please email communications@raci.org.au for further information.

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Can you help with COVID-19 testing?

The Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM) is looking for volunteers. ASM is putting together a database of qualified people who are willing to be called upon in case of a potential staff shortage to assist with COVID-19 testing (or any other requests required) at hospitals or any other diagnostics lab across Australia.

This database will be shared with local public health hospitals and diagnostic labs. It is envisioned that in the event of a staff shortage, volunteers can be trained to support ongoing COVID-19 testing.

ASM is also looking for people who can donate molecular biology reagents for COVID-19 testing in particular viral swabs and unopened RNA extraction kits.

Submit your details here https://buff.ly/3biYv90 Please contact laurence.luu@unsw.edu.au if you have any questions.

Want to contribute to the NSW Branch newsletter?

The NSW Branch would like to hear from members with news items that may be of interest to the membership. Do you know of any interesting stories or projects that are making a difference, or events that you would like to share with readers? If so, please send an email to raci-nsw@raci.org.au Deadline for content is the Tuesday before the end of month.

For enquiries: RACI NSW Branch Office: (02) 9663 4960 RACI National Office (Vale St, North Melbourne): (03) 9328 2033

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 raci-nsw@raci.org.au

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“Chemistry in Australia”

The Royal Australian Chemical Institute’s magazine for and about the chemical science professions

Click here to find a free pdf of each month’s full issue.