Meetings & Events

Upcoming Events
(click anywhere on calendar image above to view the latest event information)

October 2025

National Chemistry Week
October 19-25
"The Hidden Life of Spices"

Public Outreach Events 
Saturday, October 18th, 10:00 am until 5:00 pm
Da Vinci Science Center at PPL Pavilion, 
815 W. Hamilton Street, Allentown, PA 18101
Hands-on demos include 'Invisible Writing with Turmeric,' 'Why does Cinnamon float on water,' and 'How your nose detects even the smallest difference in odor molecules (left vs right-handed molecules)' plus more!
POST Flyer everywhere!
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED (any experience/time slot)!
CONTACT: Nigel Sanders, nigel53.sanders@gmail.com

Saturday, October 18th, 10:00 am until 3:00 pm
Reading Science Center, 
645 Penn Street, Reading, PA 19601
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED (any experience/time slot)!
CONTACT: Brad Bauer, brad.bauer@alvernia.edu

ACS Program-In-a-Box
Wednesday, October 22nd, 7:00-9:00 pm
Cedar Crest College, 100 College Dr, Allentown, PA 18104
A 75-minute interactive livestream celebrating the hidden life of spices, including:

  • Short presentations and Q&A with experts in spice and sensory chemistry.
  • Interactive "ChemClash" science trivia with the chance to win prizes!
  • Instructions for hands-on activities that tie in with the livestream (requires preparation prior to the event).
  • On-screen social media wall featuring your posts, pictures, and videos.

CONTACT: Steve Boyer, Younger Chemists Committee Chair, sboyer11@esu.edu

November 2025

Career Networking Event
Wednesday, November 5th, 6:30 pm
Lehigh University, Iacocca Hall
111 Research Dr, Bethlehem, PA 18015
SAVE THE DATE!! Details TBA
CONTACT: Steve Boyer, Younger Chemists Committee Chair, sboyer11@esu.edu

November Section Meeting
Thursday, November 20th
Lehigh University, Wood Dining Room, Mountaintop campus
111 Research Drive, Bethlehem, PA 18015
Annual Ned D. Heindel Lecture
Speaker: Sam Niedbala, CEO, CryoConcepts LP
SAVE THE DATE! MORE DETAILS SOON

December 2025

Women Chemists Committee
Social Event: Mosaic Making Party

Wednesday, December 17th, 3:00pm to 5:00pm
Smartivities Showcase
3060 Center Valley Pkwy #802, Center Valley, PA 18034

Options to choose shape (wooden frame, ornaments, etc.) and material (tiles, glass, stones, etc.) to create your unique decorative keepsake! All included!

RSVP to Yi at duyidoit@gmail.com by December 1st.

Free event and you don’t need to be an ACS member to attend.
Due to venue capacity, priorities will be for women chemists or students in Lehigh Valley.

YEARLY MEETING AND EVENT SCHEDULE
The section holds regular meetings about 8 times per academic year, September-November and January-May. There are also special events scheduled throughout the year such as celebrations around National Chemistry Week (incorporating Mole Day, October 23) and Chemists Celebrate Earth Week (incorporating Earth Day, April 22). Recurring meeting themes include: student poster session, careers night, industry tours, high school teachers night and awards night. LVACS participates in many local Science Fairs throughout the year. Family events typically take in local sports (LV Iron Pigs AAA baseball) or tour/sample at wineries/microbreweries.

Keep watching this page for timely announcements of our next events! 
*|END:WEB_VIDEO|*
January 25th Section Meeting at Moravian University Explored AI and Chemistry
https://youtu.be/MN5hxD3d7MM
Wolfram|Alpha's Jason Sonnenberg's talk with LVACS in January 2024 "Chemical Superpowers with ChatGPT + Wolfram" explored how ChatGPT is a much smarter “chemistry assistant” when given access to Wolfram|Alpha and Wolfram Language. The resulting Wolfram GPT can generate chemical structures in two- and three-dimensions which the ChatGPT 3.5 and ChatGPT 4 can not. Additionally it can also pull from expert-curated chemical data and propagate experimental uncertainty in chemical conversions and computations. Wolfram|Alpha & ChatGPT 3.5 are both free resources, while Wolfram GPT & ChatGPT 4 require a subscription from OpenAI.
*|END:WEB_VIDEO|*

A lecture by Lauren Zarzar of Penn State University entitled “Color from Colorless Materials.” Lauren is an assistant professor of chemistry and an affiliate of the Materials Research Institute. The Zarzar Lab studies stimuli-responsive materials, the behavior of active matter, and laser fabrication methods to synthesize and pattern both inorganic and organic materials. https://www.zarzarlab.com/. In this lecture, Lauren explained why interference (structural) color can arise from even microscale structures (~ 100 microns) by Total Internal Reflection, such as when water droplets of different sizes form by condensation on a clean, low energy surface.

Like to Post or Suggest Future Meetings?

Have an event you'd like to post
or an idea for a future LVACS section meeting or event?
Please submit the event information to the webmaster on
the attached form or simply let us know your idea!

Newsletter Editor and Webmaster

Nigel Sanders, webmaster@lvacs.org
+1 (610) 597-5645
Program Chair / Chair-elect

Carl Salter, salterc@moravian.edu
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LEHIGH VALLEY SECTION OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

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