Author Archives: Sandra Carlson

Wonder Women Networking Evening

Calling all women in STEM!

Whether you’re studying STEM, curious about it, or just looking to grow your professional network: The Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology (SCWIST) and Science World are thrilled to invite you to our Wonder Women Networking Evening!

This FREE event takes place on Whova on Tuesday, March 5 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm PST.

Designed specifically for university students, early career professionals, and those considering a career change, you’ll connect with some incredible “Wonder Women” in STEM who are successful in their fields and passionate about sharing their expertise with the next generation of STEM professionals.

This event was created for those who identify as women in STEM fields, due to a lack of networking opportunities for women. To further our goal of supporting those under-represented in STEM, we invite participants and mentors who identify as trans, genderqueer, non-binary, two-spirit, or gender questioning as long as the framing of the event as a women’s networking space does not feel incongruent with your identity.

We’ll be using Whova for a few rounds of networking between attendees and Wonder Women. Each Wonder Woman will have their own virtual networking table to discuss their field(s) of expertise with attendees.

Register for the event for free here.

NOTE: If you are not able to attend the event after signing up, please email us at events_coordinator@scwist.ca ASAP so that we can give your spot to someone on the waitlist.

And read all about last year’s event here:

scwist.ca/event-recap-2023-wonder-women-networking-evening

Undergrad Research Info Session – Feb 16

Join the Chemistry Undergraduate Research Info Session to learn about current faculty member’s research and get an idea of current and past undergraduate research projects.

Friday, Feb 16
5:30-7:00pm
Elliott 226

For information on Chemistry research courses – CHEM 298, 398, 399, 498 and 499 – visit https://web.uvic.ca/~chemx9x/.
This event is organized by your Chemistry Student Society (ChemSoc).

Chemistry seminar – Frank Leibfarth – Mon, Jan 15

Frank Leibfarth, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

https://www.frankleibfarth.com/

Modern Approaches to Functional and Sustainable Thermoplastics

Monday, January 15
11:30 a.m.
Clearihue A127

and Zoom https://uvic.zoom.us/j/83657240884?pwd=3pDZp5892dS4gsAKoaplX1t2j9kgbh.1

Abstract:  Plastics are the largest synthetic consumer product in the world, with an annual production of over 360 million metric tons annually. Despite the structural diversity enabled by modern advances in polymer synthesis, greater than 60% of world plastic production remains dominated by polyolefins. These high-volume, low-cost engineering thermoplastics are made from a small sub-set of petroleum derived monomers and demonstrate diverse thermomechanical properties, attractive chemical resistance, and excellent processability. Creating sustainable materials that compete with the performance and value proposition of polyolefins is a grand challenge for the field of polymer science. The goal of research in the Leibfarth group is to develop synthetic methods that transform readily available starting materials into functional and sustainable thermoplastics with molecular-level precision. This goal informs our two complementary approaches that seek to 1) leverage chemo- and regioselective C–H functionalization of polyolefins to enhance the properties of these venerable materials and 2) develop stereoselective polymerization methods that engender emergent polymer properties from simple chemical building blocks. These concepts have resulted in platform synthetic methods that enhance the thermomechanical, adhesion, and transport properties of polyolefins while also uncovering mechanistic insights that broadly inform synthetic method development.