France is going crazy with chemistry this year. They are celebrating 100 years of IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) by hosting two international chemistry meetings. They have also declared nationwide that the academic year from 2018 to 2019 is the "year of chemistry" for university students down to primary school students in accord with UNESCO declaring 2019 to be the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements. So what does this have to do with IU South Bend? It turns out that France is also hosting the International Chemistry Olympiad, which is where winners from the US National Chemistry Olympiad compete as a team against other nations. But to get to the national competition, local competitions first occur throughout the country.
IU South Bend and Saint Mary's College alternate hosting the local competition for the Chemistry Olympiad; this year was our turn. Laboratory supervisor Connie Fox and assistant Brenda Beatty were contacted ahead of time to order chemicals, prepare solutions, and set up instruments for today's competition. The high school students spent the morning taking a written test and then after a break for lunch put all of their problem solving skills to work in the laboratory for chemical synthesis and analysis.
