MARM 2012 - Chemagination

Chemagination at MARM 2012

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By Louise Lawter, 2012 MARM Chemagination Co-Chair

On Saturday June 2, students, teachers, family and friends traveled from New York and New Jersey to compete in the 10^th Annual American Chemical Societys Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting (MARM) Chemagination contest at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. These students qualified to compete on the regional level by placing First in their category at their local 2012 Chemagination contests earlier this spring.

Chemagination is an event in which high school students, working in teams of two or three, are asked to imagine that they are living 25 years in the future and have been invited to write an article for ChemMatters, a magazine for high school students that focuses on the role of chemistry in everyday life. The subject of the article is: Describe a recent breakthrough or innovation in chemistry and/or its applications that has improved the quality of peoples lives today. The article is written to fit in one of four categories: Alternative Energy, Environment, Medicine/Healthcare, or New Materials. In addition to the article, students must also design the cover of the magazine.

In this MARM competition, teams were evaluated and winners selected based on the quality of their article, their poster display and their ability to defend the science behind their innovation during interviews with judges.

Eight teams vyied for one of the four prizes: First Place Overall, Second Place Overall, Third Place Overall, and Honorable Mention. The prizes consisted of $125 (per team member) for First, $100 for Second, $75 for Third and $50 for Honorable Mention. In addition, each prizewinner received a subscription to ChemMatters magazine complements of the ChemMatters staff. Also, Chemagination caps were distributed to students, teachers and judges to commemorate the event.

Between the various interviews, the students had the chance to mingle with their fellow competitors from Windsor-Plainsboro High School North. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South and Bergen County Academies in New Jersey, and Hunter College High School and Division Avenue High School in New York.

During the deliberation of the judges, the students attended a Chemistry Demonstration by Dr. Stephen Mang of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

MARM Chemagination 2012 was sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting Executive Board of the American Chemical Society and organized by Mrs. Louise Lawter and Dr. Shirish Shah. We wish to thank MARM General Co-Chairs Paul Smith and Stephanie Watson, Dr. Stephen Mang, and our judges Dr. Holly Cymet, Stevenson College; Dr. Louise Hellwig, Morgan State University; Dr. Sara Narayan, Stevenson University, and Dr. James Saunders, Towson University for their service. We also thank the students faculty advisors Ms May Chiu, Hunter College High School; Ms Cindy Jaworski, West Windsor-Plainsboro HS South; Mr. Troy W. Joseph, Division Avenue High School; Dr. Deok-Yang Kim, Bergen County Academies; Mrs. Julia Norato, West Windsor-Plainsboro HS North and Mr. Thomas Scott, Hunter College High School for supporting and encouraging their students.

It was apparent from the quality of the submissions that the students worked very hard to prepare for the competition. The judges did not have an easy task in selecting the winners!