On 29th May 2021, American Chemical Society (ACS) UTM International Student Chapter organized its flagship event, which was International Young Chemists Summit 2021 (IYCS 2021). This event was a collaboration between ACS UTM Student Chapter and ACS Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) Student Chapter.
The event was aimed to enhance the knowledge sharing, learning and collaboration between young global scientists, researchers and students. It also aimed to exchange ideas and expertise on the latest development and advancement in the broader chemistry enterprise for a sustainable future as well as to encourage the development of professional and social networking amongst the participants. The event comprises Presentation, Video and Essay Competitions where the winners will be awarded certificates and cash prizes.
Several other international ACS Student Chapters were also invited to this event such as ACS USM Student Chapter, ACS Qatar University (QU) Student Chapter, ACS National University of Singapore (NUS) Student Chapter and also ACS University of Utah Student Chapter for the IYCSharing 2021 forum session.
The event which was held virtually through online meeting platforms (Zoom and Facebook) for six hours from 9.00 AM to 3.00 PM, was attended by the Chair of ACS Malaysia Chapter, Dr. Mohd Firdaus bin Abd Wahab, Deputy Dean Research, Innovation, Development and Alumni of Faculty of Science, Prof. Chm. Dr. Zaiton binti Abdul Majid, Advisor of ACS UTM International Student Chapter, Dr. Bakri bin Bakar, presentation judges, 33 IYCS 2021 committees, the presentation participants through Zoom and active members of ACS UTM International Student Chapter through Facebook live.
The event had started at 9.00 AM with the registration of all the presentation participants, presentation judges and Deputy Dean entering the Zoom which was later taken over by the moderator of the program, Nur Izzati Syahirah from ACS-UTM International Student Chapter. The moderator had provided a brief explanation to the audiences regarding the flow and objective of this program.
Next, the welcoming speech by the Program Director, Nazmi bin Mohamed as well as the opening speech by Deputy Dean Research, Innovation, Development and Alumni of Faculty of Science, Prof. Chm. Dr. Zaiton binti Abdul Majid were given during the event. This event was then followed by the introduction of three presentation judges. At 10.00 AM, the event had started with the presentation competition from the participants and alternately displayed the videos from the video competition after every presentation.
Around 12.00 PM, the event continued with the International Young Chemists Sharing 2021 (IYCSharing 2021) forum session where six representatives from several ACS International Student Chapters had participated in the forum. The delegates were Naziela Aljeffry (ACS UTM International Student Chapter), Shirley Ooi (ACS USM Student Chapter), Iman Abdel-Hadi (ACS QU Student Chapter), Ella Spurlock (ACS University of Utah Student Chapter), Mohammad Ismail (ACS QU Student Chapter) and Cheng Meng-Fu (ACS NUS Student Chapter).
The forum served as a great platform for the representatives to share their knowledge about Chemistry. Each delegate had shared their interesting and inspiring journey with ACS International Student Chapter. Throughout the sharing session, audiences and participants were able to understand everyone’s stance from different view points.
After the sharing session ended, audiences were open to ask questions to the delegates. The Question and Answer session was occupied with impactful questions as the audiences got inquisitive after the sharing session. The International Flagship Forum segment ended with a photography session.
As the event reached its closing ceremony, The Chair of ACS Malaysia Chapter, Dr. Mohd Firdaus was invited for the closing speech. E-certificates were provided to the VIPs and judges as a token of appreciation.
Finally, the moment where everyone was eager to know the winners of the competitions had arrived and the winner of the presentation competition goes to Catalyx (1st), Pyro (2nd) and The Gifted (3rd) while Chemisthree and Asphalthic won consolation prizes. Ghibli succeeded as the champion of the video competition while Alchemy and Chemniacs obtained second and third places respectively. Heritage Guardian and Starter secured the consolation prizes for the video competition.
Muhammad Dzul Fakhri became the victor of the essay writing competition while the other participants who were Sulaeman Daniswara Mulya and Kevin won 2nd and 3rd place respectively. The consolation prizes for the essay competition were awarded to Muhamad Novan Agandra Rois and Fong Li Yee.
Congratulations to all the winners as their efforts have paid off. IYCS 2021 ended with a sweet yet memorable photography session.
The event was a major success as the committees did a great job to ensure the smoothness of this event. Everything went well and no mistakes were made during the event. All of the participants were very happy and satisfied with the event regardless of the results’ outcome. The event also obtained global news coverage from Universitas Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa (http://www.dikti.kemdikbud.go.id/kabar-dikti/mahasiswa-teknik-untirta-raih-juara-dalam-international-young-chemist-summit/) and Institut Teknologi Bandung (https://www.chem.itb.ac.id/2021/05/31/prestasi-mahasiswa-kimia-dan-tpb-fmipa-itb-dalam-international-young-chemists-summit-2021/).
The event has set a golden standard of what ACS UTM International Student Chapter event should look like. We would like to thank everyone for the success of the event. We really hope that the event will continue in the upcoming future and may be passed down to other universities to handle as a highly reputable and prestigious international event.