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SCIENCE FAIRS HIGHLIGHT LEHIGH VALLEY'S YOUNG RESEARCHERS
***The 74th Reading-Berks Science and Engineering Fair brought out our future scientists for a week-long event at Albright College's Bollman Gymnasium March 2-5, 2026. Nigel Sanders and Matt Sonntag were part of the team of 50 category judges and 33 special award judges. 230 6-8 grade and 46 Jr/Sr high school students contributed projects. LVACS sponsors two special awards each year: best chemistry-related junior division project and to the winner of the senior chemistry division. The LVACS awardees this year were: Maeve Quirk, Junior Division (grades 6-8), "The Effect of Layered Skincare Products in Viral TikTok Routines on UV Transmission," 6th Grade Physical Science, Conrad Weiser MS and Autumn Heckler, Senior Division (grades 9-12), "Protein Proteolysis Power," Muhlenberg Jr HS (District: Muhlenberg). Good way to spend a rainy day in Reading: slideshow.
***The Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) celebrated its 92nd year at Northampton CC on Saturday, February 28th with 450 7th and 8th grade papers (there were 12 Chemistry sessions!) and 130 9-12 papers (4 Chemistry sessions). LVACS members judging included Nigel Sanders, John Freeman, Kurt Stork, Melissa Bolcar, Megan Grandinetti, Nathaniel Lam and Frank Schweighardt. The 8th grade presentations I judged were quite impressive and two also appeared the next week at RBSEF (see above)! Now it's on to the State level PJAS which will be held May 17-19 at Penn State University (same dates as MARM - ugh).
***LVACS members Philip Elias, NCW/CCEW coordinator and Sophia Iaconetti, ESU student, participated at the Southern Lehigh Middle School's annual Steam Expo on February 26th.

The February 10th section meeting was at Albright College in Reading and featured speaker Lauren Toote of Elizabethtown College. Lauren's talk was titled "Simple and Inexpensive Test for Detection of Heavy Metals in Drinking Water" and explained how polymer nanoparticle-based sensors were developed that encapsulate colorimetric molecular probes for lead(II) and mercury(II). It was found that these sensors allow for organic solvent-free detection of heavy metals directly in water, producing a colorimetric response within 20 minutes. The synthesis, characterization and optimization of these sensors was presented, along with implementation of these methods in a COVID-type paper-based assay design for simple and inexpensive testing. LVACS also celebrated our 2025 MARM Chemagination contest winners with presentation of awards to the following Muhlenberg HS students: 
> Jessica Dominguez, Elan Rodriguez and Yenavi Lazala for 'The Battery of Today: The History of It and How They Came To Be'
> Crystalin Mena, Jake Gonzalez-Perez and Noah Djevharian for 'EASAP: FOR THE OCEAN'
>  Aubrey Thiele, Cole Koch and Efrain Rodriguez for 'Stop the Emissions: Solving the Magnetite Problem'
> Cathy H Bui and Emma Neuheimer for 'Track the Timeline: The Rise of Fireproof Housing.'
View the slideshow for the highlights of the meeting!

LVACS kicked-off 2026 and the 150th anniversary of the American Chemical Society with a January 22nd section meeting in Moravian University's newly remodeled Haupert Union Building (HUB). The new HUB provides a venue for future larger events such as the annual undergraduate research poster symposium. The January 22nd meeting featured a presentation by Edward J. Boscola, P.E., Director of the Water and Sewer Resources Department for the City of Bethlehem, a graduate of Villanova University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Ed offered us a history and overview of the City’s drinking water and wastewater systems. Beginning from the first public water system in America in 1762 (Moravian Waterworks - original pumping building still exists in Bethlehem's Old Industrial Quarter) the City of Bethlehem delivers 14 million gallons per day of drinking water to over 120,000 persons in the city and surrounding communities and treats 11 million gallons per day of waste water for discharge to the Lehigh River. The drinking water system includes surface water reservoirs (Wild Creek reservoir, the main source, was built by the New Deal's Public Works Administration and completed in 1941), a filtration plant, pump stations, storage tanks, and distribution piping. The City of Bethlehem was also the first municipal water authority created in Pennsylvania. The sewer system includes a wastewater treatment plant, pump stations, and gravity collection mains. Water and wastewater chemistry is monitored daily to ensure quality parameters and regulatory requirements are met. A lively Q&A session after Ed's talk covered many of the topics raised, including the use of wastewater treatment biosolids, responding to changing water quality standards and new water uses such as AI factories. Take a look at some slideshow highlights of the meeting and a video recording of Ed Boscola's presentation.

The LVACS Women Chemists Committee (WCC) introduced six members to the art of Mosaic Making at Smartivities studio in a holiday event at the Promenade Shops in Lower Saucon Township December 17th, 2025. Busy elf-chemists look lab-serious but are having fun, we promise you! See the resulting Presents ready for the next reindeer departure. 

The LVACS November 2025 Section Meeting was once again the venue for the (3rd) Annual Ned D. Heindel Lecture. Thirty members gathered in the Wood Dining Room at Lehigh University's Iacocca Hall on Thursday, November 20th, to present this year's Lectureship Award to Sam Niedbala*, CEO, CryoConcepts LP. Sam's lecture, "Translating Science to Commercial Reality - One Scientist's Stories of Failure and Success" visited some of the experiences and examples from years of working with technical teams, regulatory agencies and business partners. As a scientist and entrepreneur who has founded several local companies and having a PhD in chemistry, these ventures were based on the chemistry and engineering that created new products. The stories told will revisit some of the highs and lows that come with this career path. After his talk, Carl Salter, LVACS Chair-elect, presented Sam with the Heindel Award Plaque. Also, LVACS recognized Rachel Peters of Easton Area High School as the 2025 Excellence in High School Chemistry Teaching Awardee. John Freeman, Awards Chair, made the award presentation to Rachel. Rachel has a long record of partnership with the Section through chemistry demonstrations and the Chemistry Olympiad Competition. See the April 2025 Octagon for more details on Rachel's award. Meeting Slides with some pictures of the event.

2025 LVACS ELECTIONS ANNOUNCEMENT!
The results are in and the Section is pleased to announce that Heidi Hendrickson of Lafayette College has been elected Chair-elect for 2026 (proceeding to Chair in 2027 and past chair in 2028) and Nigel Sanders has been re-elected to Secretary for a two-year term. The number of votes was 40 in each case. Please welcome Heidi to the LVACS Executive Committee as Chair-elect and Program Chair!

The LVACS - Philadelphia ACS Career Exploration Event held Wednesday, November 5th gave undergraduates and graduate students from Lehigh Valley area schools a chance to find out more about local chemistry-related employment opportunities and to practice resume and interviewing skills. According to LVACS YCC Chair Steve Boyer, the event was a success: we had 19 students attend from ESU, Lehigh and Kutztown. Twelve employee volunteers from industry attended so a total of 31 people. The event was co-sponsored by the Philadelphia local section (thanks Greglynn Gibbs and Joe Martino!) and hosted by Lehigh University (thanks Liz Young and Damien Thevenin of Lehigh Chemistry Department!). The students were definitely engaged as the volunteers said they didn't really get a break because they were constantly talking to students! Some of them told us to keep them in mind for the future so I that's another sign of success. Exit polling of the volunteers indicated that the students were prepared. ESU ran a workshop to prep them for the event, so some, at least, got some coaching going into it. There was also a good showing of Lehigh graduate students so a more mature group that should be more prepared for this kind of event. Here's a few pics of the affair.

LVACS celebrated National Chemistry Week, October 19-25, with four special events:
- two outreach events at the Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown and the Reading Science Center, both on Saturday, October 18th
- the ACS Program-in-a-Box hosted by Cedar Crest College on Wednesday, October 22nd and 
- an outreach event on Mole Day (10/23!) at the Lights On Afterschool fair at the Migrant Education Program's office in Allentown.
- LVACS also sponsored a local edition of the ACS Illustrated Poetry contest.
Da Vinci Science Center Outreach Event
Five LVACS members (Nigel Sanders, Philip Elias, Guido Pez, Marsha Baar and Ted Wursta) decorated the ATAS space at the new Da Vinci Science Center at the PPL Center in Allentown for this year's NCW theme, "The Hidden Life of Spices." Three hands-on demos from the Celebrating Chemistry brochure were in action including Invisible Writing with Turmeric Have you ever wanted to send a secret message to a friend that no one else can read? Invisible inks can help you do that! In this activity we will learn how to use turmeric, a common household spice, to create a secret message. Why does Cinnamon float on water Can cinnamon help keep us dry? Cinnamon is a special spice, especially around holidays. People love baking with it. But have you noticed how cinnamon will “float” on water but not easily mix? If you try to catch cinnamon, will a dry finger or wet one catch more? Let’s do the activity to find out! How your nose detects even the smallest difference in odor molecules (left vs right-handed) Can your nose “sense” certain tiny differences in the shape of odor molecules? How does our nose work? In this activity, we will ‘spot the differences’ between two very similar molecules that dramatically change what we smell. Can your left hand fit in the right glove? Your nose knows! The most popular was the Invisible Writing with Turmeric with Cinnamon Hydrophobicity a close second. Meanwhile, Guido Pez was busy showing how we can visualize such tiny things as atoms and molecules and their reactions with computer simulations such as the Odyssey program. Altogether quite a day for Chemistry! Julie Ambrose of Da Vinci posted the following impressions on LinkedIn: "Who knew?! Onions and grapefruits smell dramatically different but their chemical make ups are identical mirror images of each other. And turmeric can be used to write hidden messages…these were some fun takeaways from the American Chemical Society’s station at Da Vinci Science Center yesterday for National Chemistry Week. Thanks to Guido Pez, Nigel Sanders, and their colleagues for sharing their knowledge, resources and passion bringing science to life and lives to science!"
Reading Science Center Outreach Event
But there were two events on the same day - wow! says Avi, the Chemistry Mole, that's double the fun! The RSC crew consisted of Bromine Brad (or is it Barium Bauer? maybe both!) and Aluminum Alyssa from Alvernia University plus Pamela Artz and the Albright SMACS team of Argon Amanda, Strontium Stella, Krypton Kaiya, Iodine Iz, Radon Rylee, Magnesium Mario, Arsenic Anj, Germanium Jordan and Krypton Katie. The goal? Build a battery! Bromine Brad filled us in on the action: "Hi Everyone, I just wanted to follow-up on the Reading Science Center event from Saturday. We had a great group of volunteers from Albright and Alvernia helping with the event. Pam, thank you for encouraging your students to volunteer. The first squad was especially enthusiastic. The potato/lemon was a nice addition and complemented the battery stack nicely. Carl, thank you for providing the materials for the battery stack. It was a little touchy now and then (even with fresh zinc washers), but we were able to get it working (usually took about 4-5 stacks to get sufficient voltage to light the LED). Overall, we had a modest crowd attend the event, but those that were there seemed to enjoy it. Thanks to all of the LVACS volunteers!"
ACS Program-In-a-Box (PIB)
Cedar Crest College hosted this ACS 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! and On-screen social media wall featuring live posts, pictures, and videos. The group (including Mrs. Vijila Vijay, Chemistry teacher at Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School and her Chem Club!) enjoyed some spice-themed snacks and a spice-themed puzzle, as well as cool prizes! Thanks to Jeanne Berk for sponsoring this for the section!
Lights On Afterschool with the PA Migrant Education Program
The spice-related demos were part of the PA MEP's annual Lights On Afterschool health/nutrition fair on the Mole's very Day, October 23rd. The event featured a special 'secret' message from our own Professor Molenium, revealed just at 6:02 for the enjoyment of our MEP hosts. LVACS also received an award for our passion and commitment in working with the MEP over the past four years.  
LVACS Illustrated Poetry contest
Our local section sponsored a local contest as part of the ACS competition. Four entries were received from Nativity BVM High School in Pottsville, PA. The winner was Minju Park with her Poem "From Chemistry to Where."

The October 9th LVACS Section Meeting at Lafayette College featured biochemist Christina Vizcarra from Barnard College speaking on "Cytoskeletal regulation by formins: effects of disease-associated mutations and small molecule inhibitors." The Vizcarra group investigates how actin, the most abundant protein in many cells, is regulated to perform its impressive list of cellular roles. Christina's group employs biochemical techniques, spectroscopy, and high-resolution microscopy with three primary research goals: (1) understanding cytoskeletal regulators that are associated with inherited deafness, (2) developing small molecules that inhibit specific formin proteins and functions, and (3) studying how the metal binding protein metallothionein-3 modulates the actin cytoskeleton in response to lead exposure. On October 22, 2024, Christina was named a Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. Watch a short video from the talk which visualizes how cytoskeletons form from actin filaments. Thank you, Heidi and Christina, for arranging an engaging meeting and presentation! Here's some moments in a slideshow.

For the third time in two years, the Lehigh Valley section has had guest speakers from the top tier of ACS leadership! In March of 2024, it was ACS 2024 President-elect Dorothy Phillips, then Wayne Jones, ACS Board Chair in September 2024, and now Dr. Rigoberto Hernandez, ACS 2025 President-elect visited us this past month. The LVACS September 18th 2025 Meeting was another brilliant turnout with 55 members and students to hear Rigoberto talk about his career and his favorite catch-phrase: "Reach for the Stars, Settle for the Moon!" The venue was Fegley's Allentown Brew Works' FIVE ballroom on Hamilton Street across from the Da Vinci Science Center. After a relaxing social hour and delicious dinner, the evening began with presentation of Awards followed by a brief review of Upcoming Events and then Rigoberto's Lecture. 
AWARDS:
First up were the new Pamela Kistler First-Year Achievement Awards for the past year 2024-2025. Chair Chester Crane briefly introduced the new awards with a short bio of Dr. Kistler's many contributions to LVACS and general chemistry instruction while at Cedar Crest College. Our special guest, Dr. Hernandez, helped Chester and YCC Chair, Steve Boyer, make the presentations throughout the evening. Next were the new crop of George Ruger LVACS Travel Awards for MARM 2025 and the Fall ACS meeting in Washington, DC. The list of Kistler and Ruger awardees is given here. This was followed by the Ned Heindel Organic Chemistry Scholarship Awards presented by Godfred Fianu of Moravian University and the MARM Chemagination Competition by John Freeman, LVACS Alternate Councilor. Finally, a special ACS Salute to Excellence Award was presented to David Schmidt of Mussel Polymers, Inc. (MPI) in recognition of their commitment to strengthening our partnership in bringing chemistry from nature to the lab and into new applications (recall September 2023 LVACS meeting at the Ben Franklin incubator co-hosted by MPI with speaker and inventor of their SEATAK (R) underwater adhesive, Dr. Jon Wilker of Purdue).
UPCOMING EVENTS:
The Fall ACS Membership Drive, Nominations for LVACS Elections, NCW Activities, YCC and WCC Events, MARM 2026 and LVACS Meetings were summarized by Chester (see details in the slideshow, linked below, and on lvacs.org).
LECTURE BY RIGOBERTO HERNANDEZ, ACS 2025 PRESIDENT-ELECT:
Dr. Hernandez gave an excellent overview of his career from early childhood with emphasis on the choices and challenges he faced and how he approached each. The focus was always on using mentors to assess options and +/- with the consistent theme being don't underestimate yourself: shoot the highest you can (the 'stars') and let the interplay of your talents and the environment determine your landing place (the 'moon').
REVIEW THE SLIDESHOW FOR MORE!
FLASH!! LVACS and the Lehigh University Chemistry Department announce the 2025 Ned D. Heindel Lecturer! Sam Niedbala, CEO, CryoConcepts LP, will be our 2025 lecturer and will receive the award at the November 20^th Section Meeting at Lehigh. SAVE THE DATE!

The weather threatened to mar our annual LVACS Iron Pigs game night Thursday, September 4th but attendance was good as the section's Fe-willed fans braved the storm clouds to support the Allentown squad until play had to be suspended in the top of the sixth inning. Our thanks to Lindsey Welch for once again handling the reservation and selling the tickets - 50 were sold out already by the 1st of August and we got another 10 to set an LVACS game record! Woo-hoo!

LVACS had a spot in the ACS Fall 2025 Meeting’s Local Section Showcase during Sci-Mix in Washington, D.C., Monday, August 18^th from 8:00-10:00 pm. Our poster featured activities we organized throughout 2024, many of which were presented in summary form at our April 8^th annual banquet at DeSales University. We also took the opportunity to advertise next year’s MARM, May 17-19, 2026 in Hershey, with some appropriate ‘sweeteners’ and chemistry-themed stickers. All reports indicated a significant interest in our story. Many thanks to Jeanne Berk of Cedar Crest College, LVACS Councilor, for setting up the exhibit and Matt Sonntag of Albright College for co-staffing with her.

Cedar Crest College hosted the second Research Program Poster Presentation event highlighting summer research by undergraduates funded by a NASA grant on Wednesday, August 13th. Research related to forensic science, natural antibiotics and yeast analysis were featured. Program Principal Investigator, Dr. Lindsey Welch, and Co-Principal Investigator, Dr Audrey Ettinger, as well as faculty mentors Drs. Jeanne Berk, Jenny Hayden, Andra Lewis and Andre Walther welcomed the students' parents and other faculty to view the work. LVACS wishes all of the young researchers much success in their future careers!

Modeling the visit we made to Reading Science Center in July (see below), Carl Salter, Gail Salter, Guido Pez, Nigel Sanders and Sherman Cox visited Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown on Monday, August 11th. Our hosts were Julie Ambrose, Director of Philanthropy, Stephanie Gillen, Director of Operations and Hoda Ehsan, Chief Learning Officer. Like Reading Science Center, Da Vinci's focus is on K-6. Unlike RSC, DSC is much larger and has essentially all of its exhibit space built out at this point. Besides batteries, other chemistry areas suggested were kitchen chemistry (e.g. soap foaming), LEDs, polymer properties and cloaking (!). Meanwhile, we will continue to partner with Da Vinci Science Center for our tradition ad hoc programs during National Chemistry Week and Chemists Celebrate Earth Week. This year's NCW Theme is "The Hidden Life of Spices" so get ready for some aromatic times!

LVACS celebrated with 50 and 60-year ACS anniversarians at a brunch on July 11th at Chris' Family Restaurant, 5635 Tilghman Street, Allentown, PA 18104. Sharing the table were (left-to-right): Patricia Waller, Fran Waller (60 year), Barbara Orwig (60 year), Chester Crane (LVACS Chair), Marsha Baar (50 year), Jeanne Berk (LVACS Councilor), Sherman Cox (LVACS Treasurer) and Nigel Sanders (LVACS Secretary). Many good wishes to Fran, Barbara, Marsha and all of our 50/60-year members from the LVACS Executive Committee!

Carl Salter, LVACS Chair-elect, Guido Pez and Nigel Sanders, LVACS Secretary visited Reading Science Center on Tuesday, July 8th to discuss opportunities for the Lehigh Valley Section to provide a chemistry-focused exhibit with RSC Executive Director Ralia Vardaxis. The idea, recently developed as part of our Strategic Plan refresh (see news article below), is to help kids (RSC focuses on elementary to middle school ages) begin to understand how the 'microscopic' world of chemistry underlies the macroscopic examples of natural physical/biological systems already on display. While visiting, we observed a summer science field trip which combines classroom guided experiments (acid-base/phase change; polymerization) with museum time. RSC will soon be doubling its floor space so this is an excellent time to design such an exhibit. The chemistry behind batteries was discussed as an example. The Center also sponsors the Sisters in STEM program which offers girls in grades 4-6 a unique opportunity to dive into science through interactive lessons and hands-on experiments. Sisters in STEM also brings inspiring women from our local science community to the Reading Science Center to meet with participants, share their experiences, and lead special projects: another opportunity for LVACS and our Women Chemists Committee. A similar visit to Da Vinci Science Center is planned for August 11th.

On Saturday, June 21st, LVACS Executive Committee, Standing Committee Chairs and Activity Coordinators held a Strategic Planning refresh retreat which reviewed progress on the 2022-2027 LVACS Strategic Plan  and began compiling a new set of Standard Operating Procedures including updated position descriptions and succession plans for LVACS officers and committee chairs. The group of 12 spent the entire day in a dedicated effort resulting in three clear-cut projects for the next 2 years of the 5-year Strategic Plan, drafts of position/succession documents and selection of SOP teams. The three projects, one in each goal area, are "Develop Chemical Connections to Local Science Museums," "Strengthen K-12 outreach efforts" and "Increase College faculty-student engagement through better communication."  A entire slide deck in pdf format explaining the process used is attached here. The target dates for completion of the SOPs is by the September 18th Section meeting. Excellent work, team, and a special thanks to June Thompson of Moravian University and Carl Salter, Chair-elect, for arranging the space and food during a busy time on the Moravian campus!

LVACS presented Glaciers: Hot Topic, Cool Chemistry at Reading Science Center's 2nd Annual 'Celebrate Science Day' on Sunday, May 4th 2025. Despite the rain, we had 569 visitors clamoring for a science experience! Thanks to Philip Elias, LVACS past chair and CCEW Coordinator, Brad Bauer of Alvernia University and Nigel Sanders, LVACS secretary for making this another great CCEW event for the local section. Slideshow

The LVACS Women Chemists Committee celebrated spring on April 30th at Painting with a Twist, 3650 Nazareth Pike, Bethlehem. The event, attended by 12 members (including 5 students), featured a career panel from 2:30-3:15 pm followed by instructed painting and networking from 3:15-5:30 pm. Thanks to Yi Du, LVACS WCC Chair, career panelists Dan Wu, Associate TS&D Director, Dow and Sara Yacob, Separation fundamentals manager, ExxonMobil and our painting muse, Jean, for putting us in the picture! Feel the canvas!

Our Annual Undergraduate Research Poster Session and Awards Banquet took place on Tuesday, April 8th at DeSales University. There were 15 posters covering subjects from construction and use of a simple polarization fluorometer to the detection of chlorpyrifos pesticide on golf courses! The awards for students this year included the usual undergraduate senior achievement awards and also five recipients of the George Ruger LVACS travel awards and our new Mini-ChemLuminary Award for the best student chapter or club activity during the year (won for the first time by the joint efforts of the East Stroudsburg University Chem and STEM clubs). In addition, two awards were given for Outreach Volunteer of the Year (Sherri Young of Muhlenberg College) and for Excellence in Chemistry Teaching at Small Colleges (Lindsey Welch of Cedar Crest College), presented by Philip Elias, LVACS past chair, and Jeanne Berk, LVACS councilor, respectively. Chester Crane, 2025 LVACS Chair, briefly summarized our financial and administrative performance as a local ACS section during the past year (2024) and some of the opportunities for members to get involved in LVACS activities. Finally, Prof. Jonathan Kuo of Penn State gave a fascinating talk "Ligands for (Dicationic Group 10) Lewis Acids" on the physical organic chemistry of new Pt/Pd “shapeshifting” metal/ligand complexes and how they can allow such catalysts to react efficiently with olefins, even base-functionalized olefins. Enjoy the program with some pictures from the event!  

Philip Elias, LVACS past chair, and Guido Pez, emeritus member, had a great day judging projects at the Lehigh Valley Science Fair at Lehigh University's Rauch Fieldhouse on Saturday, March 15th. How about joining them next year?

The 73rd annual 2025 Reading-Berks Science and Engineering Fair (RBSEF) was held March 11-14 in Bollman Gymnasium at Albright College. 287 students got a chance to show off their scientific projects and, hopefully, take home some award hardware. LVACS once again sponsored two prizes of $250 for chemistry-based projects: one for the junior competition (grades 6-8) and one for senior level (9-12). The junior winner this year was 8th grader Juliana Reinard of LaSalle Academy in Shillington for her project entitled "A Bloody Investigation" or how we can fool the classic Kastle-Meyer test for blood with certain foods such as peroxidase-containing vegetables (e.g. potato, horseradish, red cabbage). The senior winner was William Ferenchick of Wilson High School in Reading with the project "Shrimp-Wrap: Fabrication and Characterization of a Strong, Compostable Chitosan Bioplastic Composite" which investigated filter paper / chitosan composites plasticized with glycerol as candidates for sustainable/biodegradable translucent packaging materials. LVACS members Nigel Sanders and Audrey Smeltzer-Schwab acted as judges for the 8th grade Physical Sciences group. As Senior Division Grand Champion, William Ferenchick will represent Berks County at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair this May in Columbus, Ohio, along with Senior division champion Samson Evans of Muhlenberg High School. See some highlights of the event.

Just 1 week after our February 27th Section Meeting, our March 6th Section Meeting at Muhlenberg College had an entirely different chemical flavor: a major leap from formulating color dispersions using artful chemistry to the discovery of new chemistries of use in medicinal applications. Valerie Shurtleff, Principal Scientist in Discovery Chemistry at Merck, West Point, PA, provided a summary of how the dramatic appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic led to development of not only vaccines but also antivirals, "Invention of MK-7845, a novel SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease inhibitor." As an important complement to vaccines, antiviral treatments are needed to combat the disease caused by viral infection. Her presentation described the invention of a unique chemistry called MK-7845. As an oral CoV 3CL protease inhibitor. MK-7845 is a reversible covalent inhibitor bearing a difluorobutyl substituent at the P1 position, which is occupied by a glutamine in the protease’s native recognition sequence. In addition to promising in vivo efficacy and a projected human dose suitable for BID dosing with unboosted pharmacokinetics, MK-7845 exhibits favorable properties for both solubility and absorption, in part due to the unique difluorobutyl P1 substituent.

Our February 27th Section Meeting at Albright College featured social hour, dinner and a variety of meeting items including LVACS activities updates, awards presentations and a dynamic presentation by Albright alumnus Kyle T. Smith, Group Leader, Energy Curables at Penn Color, Inc. "Mastering Particle Size Stabilization in Broadly Compatible Dispersions: Penn Color's Technical Expertise." Attendance was about 25. Penn Color specializes in providing colors and functional additives for thermoplastics, pigments dispersions for inks and coatings, and custom formulations tailored to various industries including consumer goods, building and construction, and transportation and infrastructure. The company's core technical expertise lies in particle size management and dispersion technologies, which are crucial for maintaining product stability and performance. Our National Chemistry Week Illustrated Poetry Contest awards for 2023 and 2024 were presented by Philip Elias, LVACS Past Chair and NCW/CCEW Coordinator to Gabriella Leon and Aubrey Thiele of Muhlenberg High School. Three Muhlenberg HS teams of 2024 Chemagination winners went to the MARM competition at Penn State in June and came away with an honorable mention for New Materials – “Bamboo Made Toys”, by Olivia Lisa, Sophia Luigard and Autumn Mease. Sophia and Autumn were presented with certificates for their team by John Freeman, Awards Chair. Also honored were students from the other two MARM teams: Ashley De Los Santos, for an Alternative Energy article “Filters of the Ocean”, by Ashley De Los Santos, Jaela Eaton and William Howk, and Jocelyn Fernandez and Kimberly Reynoso, for a Medicine/Health article “Unlocking the Cure: Chemistry's Role in Defeating Cystic Fibrosis”. Review the slideshow!

Southern Lehigh Middle School celebrated their 3rd annual SLSD STEAM Expo on Tuesday, February 25, 2025. Philip Elias, LVACS immediate past chair and NCW/CCEW Coordinator, reported hosting a lot of students (~48+ came to our table) excited about doing some hands-on chemistry demos! Philip did a pop rocks + water experiment to simulate the release of trapped gases as glacier ice cores melt and, of course, the ever-popular self-inflating balloons and UV changing color beads. SLSD sent us a nice thank you note for participating and expanding their students horizons to explore new interests and future career paths.

On Saturday, February 22, 2025, the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Sciences (PJAS) Region 3 91st Annual Meeting was held at Northampton Community College with approximately 450 7-8 grade and 175 9-12 grade papers presented. There were about 150 judges of whom 15 were LVACS members or friends of the section. [Among the judges were a former Chemagination and Reading-Berks Science & Engineering Fair award winner (now a student at PSU) and 2024's LVACS Excellence in High School Chemistry Teaching Award winner!] The fields of study included behavioral science, biochemistry, biology, botany, chemistry, computer science, earth & space, ecology, engineering, mathematics, microbiology, physics and zoology. There were 11 chemistry sessions for 7^th and 8^th grade with topics ranging from “How does SPF affect protection from UV rays?” to “What is the effect of sorbent type on oil spill clean-up?” and 4 for high school with topics ranging from “Packaging the Future: Optimizing a Seaweed Bioplastic” to “BioVolt: A Biodegradable Substitution for Zinc-Air Batteries.” A grand total of 150 papers in our favorite subject! From the viewpoint of your webmaster, it was remarkable to experience the energy and preparedness of the students as they presented their projects. LVACS supports these competitions and encourages members and their friends to participate as sponsors of student researchers and/or judges.

The 2016 Olympic summer games in Rio de Janeiro was briefly interrupted by a strange event: the sudden appearance of an emerald green coloration in the diving pool (and later the pool used for water polo matches). An article which was published in C&EN at the time (Matt Davenport, C&EN, 2016, 94 (34), p 48, August 29, 2016) gathered speculation from a number of sources to explain the pool’s color (and associated foul odor) and its rapid change from the usual appealing blue. Was it a very fast-growing algae or metal complexes? Unfortunately, the pool-management contactor in Rio finally gave up trying to remedy the situation (its still not clear exactly what measures they employed) and emptied the entire million gallons without taking a sample for analysis! The incident garnered C&EN’s ‘quote of the year’ award from Rio spokesperson Mario Andrada during the pool cleanup efforts: “Chemistry is not an exact science.” But we do not ascribe to that conclusion, do we! so can’t we make a better effort to use our general chemistry skills to explain what happened? Carl Salter and Bill Farina of Moravian University answered that question in the affirmative at our January 23^rd meeting with a pool chemistry workshop enjoyed by 25 LVACS members. After taking the group through Swimming Pool Chemistry 101, they revealed the key Rio datum: a contractor mistakenly poured hydrogen peroxide into the diving well. As Carl and Bill explained, hydrogen peroxide is a de-chlorinating agent, which means it undoes what chlorine is supposed to do: kill germs and keep water clear. Hydrogen peroxide actually destroys chlorine (in this case, produced by a salt electrolysis system) via: HOCl + H₂O₂ --> HCl + H₂O + O₂↑ E_cell = +0.7v and produces oxygen and chloride ions. It might surprise chemists to find that two oxidizing agents will react with each other, but that is what happens. The sudden loss of chlorine residual would certainly explain any loss of color and clarity of the water due to algae formation. Many thanks to Carl Salter, Bill Farina and June Thompson of Moravian University for arranging an engaging meeting featuring this fascinating look into simple chemistry with wide impact!

LVACS Announces 2025 Outreach Volunteer-of-the-Year: Sherri Young of Muhlenberg College is recognized for outreach work to strengthen the section. LVACS congratulates Dr. Sherri Young of Muhlenberg College on being named our Outreach Volunteer of the Year for 2025. Sherri has been a great resource for the Lehigh Valley local section over the past decade. Last year alone, Dr. Young planned and led at least two major initiatives: a career-focused event in collaboration with the Muhlenberg College chemistry club and Women in STEM club, featuring ACS President Dr. Dorothy Phillips, and an annual memorial event honoring the late Dr. Ned Heindel of Lehigh University, complete with an award for excellence in chemistry. Her innovative approaches and consistent participation have set a high standard for outreach, inspiring others and significantly advancing the section's mission and vision. In addition to her outreach efforts, Sherri directs the Muhlenberg Center for Teaching and Learning (MCTL) at Muhlenberg College, coordinating new faculty orientation programming and a peer mentoring program during the first two years of a faculty member’s time at the college. The programming and peer mentoring model for new faculty span topics such as balancing teaching, research and service, making service decisions, and active learning strategies. Beyond the work she does with new faculty, the center is working on peer mentoring models for faculty and staff at all career stages, including mid-career faculty who often do not have as much support and mentoring as new faculty. Sherri was also nominated for the ACS VOTY honor, to be announced shortly. LVACS extends its sincere congratulations to Dr. Young for her service to ACS and the Lehigh Valley section!

lvacs.org/news archive: 2023-2024

lvacs.org/news archive: August1, 2020 - December 31, 2023

The Lehigh Valley ACS Section launched this website, https://www.lvacs.org, hosted by MailChimp, on August 1, 2020. The site, replacing one hosted by ACS.org and discontinued in May of 2019, will be used to further inform members of the section's activities and invite the local community to find out more about chemistry and how it impacts their daily lives.

Beginning in August, 2020, the Lehigh Valley Section will begin using MailChimp as its email campaign provider. Mailings to members will include monthly posts about the latest issue of The Octagon Newsletter, the section's journal of record, and more frequent e-newsletters and alerts about upcoming events and social media posts of interest.