About Us Events Membership Fellow Membership Reminiscences Members Home SACNASP Awards News SA Journal of Chemistry Vacancies Notices & Announcements Chemistry Departments Interesting Websites Salary Survey Advertise Here Anton Paar BRUKER SACI News August - October 2020 We hope that all our members and their families are keeping well and healthy. Despite the many challenges this year has brought, there have also been some firsts for SACI. This year we had our first online Council Meeting and AGM. We hope the online AGM allowed more members to participate, especially those who usually miss out because they do not live in Johannesburg. The various SACI Awards were announced at the AGM, and we wish to congratulate all the awardees for this outstanding achievement! Keep up the excellent work and the face of chemistry in our country. In this newsletter, we have included more recollections of the Institute from our long-serving members. We hope you enjoy reading about the “good old days”! On behalf of SACI, we wish all our members continued good health. Bice Martincigh Content SACI office address and times Advertising in the SACI newsletter Pay your SACI membership fees with SnapScan Salary Survey Congratulations to our young chemists! Of interest: Beirut Catastrophe Down Memory Lane SACI Statement on Tertiary Training in Chemistry Diversity and Inclusion in the Chemical Sciences Congratulations to our SACI Award Winners Sections and Divisions News Commonwealth Chemistry RSC News PACN News NSTF News SAYAS Blogging Competition SACNASP News IUPAC News FASC News CAIA Newsletter OPCW Research Funding South African Journal of Chemistry African Journals of Chemistry SACI and SACI-related conference events Other Conferences GC and GC-MS online training courses - NMISA Vacancies SACI office address and times The SACI office, run by Laila Smith is located on the 1st Floor of Gate House, room 124. The telephone number is 011 717 6705 and e-mail address is: saci.chem@wits.ac.za. The cell number is 061 282 3477. Office hours are from 8.30 am till 1.00 pm. She can be contacted at any time during her office hours. Advertising in the SACI newsletter The newsletter provides a means of getting messages to our membership. Currently the SACI membership stands at over 1000. This newsletter thus provides a means of advertising employment opportunities, conferences and workshops, and even for companies/Universities to promote themselves. We encourage members to use the Newsletter for advertising purposes. All SACI related conferences and events are advertised for free; if not a SACI related event there could be a small charge. For advertising costs contact Laila at the SACI office. Pay your SACI membership fees with SnapScan For those wishing to pay via credit card please let Mrs Laila Smith know so she can generate an online payment and email you a link. Salary Survey Dear SACI Member Please go to the below link and complete the survey before 31 December 2020 http://www.saci.co.za/salary_survey.html We need these statistics so we release the correct figures annually. The survey will be available to all SACI paid up members Congratulations to our young chemists! Congratulations to Dr Jeffrey Baloyi, who completed his PhD under Dr John Moma last year. Jeffrey, a scientist at Mintek, has been named as one of the Mail and Guardian’s 200 most outstanding Young South Africans https://200youngsouthafricans.co.za in the category of Science and Technology. Siwela Jeffrey Baloyi, 31 Science researcher Mintek @BaloyiJeff Science researcher Jeffrey Baloyi says it’s his moral obligation to find innovative solutions that aid South Africa and the world in reducing poverty, inequality and unemployment. Growing up in a village where there wasn’t much in terms of inspiration, he never imagined that his work could play such an important role in improving the quality of life for the people around him. He wants to help eliminate fuel emissions and make sure that all South Africans have access to safe and clean water through his research. Baloyi admits he hasn’t always been this determined; the road to obtaining his master’s degree came with some hesitation that led to him dropping out. But that only lasted three months and he returned before anyone noticed. “One of my proudest moments was dedicating my PhD thesis to my late mother, who never went to school,” he says. It’s in times like those when he remembers that victory is always nearby. He’s at a place where he is comfortable with his journey now, even bagging an award that brought him international recognition for outstanding achievement in technical research. And the cherry on top was being able to inspire people from his village with his success story in an interview on Munghana Lonene FM. South Africa is moving towards generating and storing zero-emission fuel such as hydrogen, which can ultimately lead to enormous environmental and social benefits and encourage better international economic competitiveness, as per Baloyi’s vision. Congratulations are also due to Dr Mzamo Shozi, a Senior Lecturer at UKZN. Mzamo has also been named as one of the Mail and Guardian’s 200 most outstanding Young South Africans https://200youngsouthafricans.co.za in the category of Science and Technology. Dr Mzamo Shozi, 35 Senior lecturer University of KwaZulu-Natal @doc_mza Not many people even know what catalysis and organometallic chemistry are. But Mzamo Shozi is an expert in the field, and his knowledge will help push us into a green energy future. His work involves the conversion of sugar alcohols found in plants to valuable chemicals used in the fuel industry. This wasn’t what Shozi first decided to learn: he applied to study medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. But when he was accepted, he turned it down and decided to study chemistry instead. “Over the years, I came to realise that my passion was actually chemistry, which saw me progress all the way to a PhD. I had only wanted to do medicine because it is one of the more sought-after degrees.” In 2018, Shozi was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to spend time doing research at the University of California in the United States — a long way away from where he grew up in Umlazi, KwaZulu-Natal. He says: “I grew up in a township. And I guess I see myself as one of the examples of ‘it doesn’t matter where you come from’. You can be what you want to be when you work hard for it.” Shozi says the future South Africa he wants to see is one in which “young, black candidates in the fields of Stem [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] are not only afforded more career opportunities, but also taking up space in more senior positions”. To that end, he is now working towards becoming a professor before he turns 40. “I know what is required of me to get there. So every day I’m driven to achieve this and continuously work towards it.” Of interest: Beirut Catastrophe With acknowledgement to Liz Anderson Down Memory Lane To add to the history of SACI it was decided to get some of the older SACI members to relate about their experience of SACI in years gone by me. To do this a letter was sent out to the SACI membership form the then President, Prof Vincent Nyamori, in late 2017. The letter requested that those members with 40 + years of SACI membership write a few paragraphs on their remembrance of SACI in times past. F o r a variety of reasons, these anecdotal comments are only now being collated in mid-2020. These remembrances of times past provide a small window on the times that the members recollect. Below are listed (virtually unedited) the comments from these members. If there are any others who would still like to add to this article – please do so. Send your information to me. Prof Neil Coville July 2020 The letter of invite Dear SACI Member You have been a SACI member for over 40 years. We are trying to record some early history of SACI. Could you write a paragraph for us (10 lines; or longer) on (i) an early memory relating to SACI and (ii) what you doing now. Thanks Prof Vincent Nyamori Response from Dr Ken Buchanan I’m embarrassed to say that, despite my best efforts to organize and preserve my academic, industry and SACI paper documents, many of those items for the period 1973 to 1997 have been lost in about 15 house moves during my working career and 3 moves post retirement! In fact, I’m still unpacking again after we moved back into our current home after moving out for 3 months’ renovations. Thus, I’ve lost key paperwork from 1977 to 1997 (40 to 20 years ago) that would trigger the memories to answer your question (i). I say key, because all of this happened BC (before computers and mass data storage was available to individuals) and the wide-spread distribution of information across the internet from about 1997. If organizations or individuals like me have thrown out or lost their paper archives without scanning / digitizing the documents, much history is irretrievable. Thus, I’m doubly embarrassed to say that, while I was the Secretary / Treasurer for the 26th SACI National Convention in 1979 in Port Elizabeth, I have no paperwork to prove this or to trigger memories of who the plenary speakers were or even what social outings we organized! Also lost are my copies of the minutes and activities of the Eastern Province Section of which I was a Committee Member from 1976 to 1984, and Chairman from 1983 to 1984! Even worse, given man’s pre-occupation with material things, I don’t think I’ll easily find the publications (was it “ChemSA”?) with my “Annual SACI Salary Survey” which I edited (i.e. did everything from data processing to writing up the publications) for the years 1983 to 1988. The results probably contributed to my move in mid1984 to industry from academia! I am currently also unpacking my boxes to find archival information to assist Cedric McCleland to complete his history of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Port Elizabeth / Nelson Mandela University, my alma mater and first employer. Thus, I may send you bites of history in a forthcoming email. More to the point, to answer your questions with what I have readily available at home: 1. An early memory relating to the SACI: About 40 years ago in the SACI Eastern Province (EP) Section, we strove (a) to get chemists together from all over the EP and the Border region, (b) to involve chemists from industry in our activities, and (c) to involve students. As academics, I think we were the first, or one of the first Sections, to coerce two selected Honours students from each university to present their Honours degree research topics at a combined “Annual Honours Meeting” of the Universities of Port Elizabeth, Transkei, Fort Hare and Rhodes University, the latter in Grahamstown being the most “central” venue in the Section. The students presented lectures during the afternoon session, which was followed by a supper, and the day rounded off in the evening by an invited speaker. You may wonder why I’ve highlighted such an apparently mundane event, but you must remember that the EP universities were / are very small and far from the large academic zones of Johannesburg-Pretoria, Durban-Pietermaritzburg and Cape-Town-Stellenbosch (generally, only two academic staff for each of the three major chemistry sub-disciplines, and one for Analytical Chemistry) and we really appreciated the opportunity to hold face-to-face meetings with other academics. For those academics at U of Fort Hare and U of Transkei, this feeling was particularly acute). One may debate whether these meetings were actually university-arranged or SACI functions. In those days our extra-mural lecture and mini-course programs were really a merger of our life’s work – chemistry (or was it academic freedom?)! Prof Trevor M Letcher, head of Chemistry Department at Rhodes University (RU) (where I’d moved in 1980 from UPE), placed great emphasis on publicity of departmental activities in proper A5-size brochures. Fortunately, the 1981 and 1982 copies of the RU Chemistry Department Newsletter are crammed in amongst my treasured chemistry text book collection dating back over 50 years! I have attached 2 pages, page two of which details the 1982 “Annual Honours Meeting” and the “SACI Affairs”. 1. What are you doing now? Late in 2014 I retired from Sasol Polymers after over 30 years in industry (1984-1993 AECI Ltd. R&D and Technical Dept., and AECI Chlor-Alkali & Plastics Ltd., 1994-1999 Polifin (Sasol-AECI joint-venture), and 20002014 Sasol Polymers). Adding my decade in academia (1974-1980 UPE, 1980-1984 Rhodes University), I w a s fortunate to have a career in chemistry and related spheres spanning just over 40 years. The scientific organizing side of me finds expression these days in that I’m the meeting organizer for the Natural Science Section of the Cape Town Branch of the University of the Third Age (U3A). Coincidently, on the day you sent this email, our invited speaker was Emeritus Prof. James R Bull, formerly Mally Professor of Organic Chemistry at UCT, and former President of the SACI (1986-1988). He gave a splendid talk on “Poisons and Potions”, combining chemistry, history, literature and human intrigue. He has a great presentation manner and a great ability to recall / retell anecdotes. On Saturdays, James and I often meet at the Rondebosch Common in Cape Town, where we’ve both completed well over a hundred Parkruns. The history of chemistry is one of my favourite interests and reading / research topics. For about 3 years I’ve been writing a history of Sasol Polymers, and its predecessor and related chemical companies, dating back nearly a hundred years in South Africa. However, this task always seems to suffer (as other writers know) when it comes to setting priorities when faced with the load of activities pensioners labour under (i.e. walking the dog in Newlands Forest, entertaining the grandchildren, tidying the garden and pool, going to SACI/RSC or U3A or Botanical Society Kirstenbosch lectures, coffee with friends, shopping with one’s spouse, getting back to marathon-distance road-running, drinks at the running club, watching too much television, etc.)! No wonder I’ll have to let you know if / when I get this book published. SACI Statement on Tertiary Training in Chemistry Statement from SACI Council on tertiary training in chemistry as a result of disruptions to the 2020 academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the professional body representing the interests of all chemists in South Africa, we recognise the challenges that the current COVID-19 crisis presents to all our members in academia, research and industry. We also acknowledge the challenges the current situation presents to our tertiary institutions and specifically the challenges presented by moving to online teaching. We applaud the efforts of all our members who work at tertiary institutions who have adapted and innovated to ensure that we can continue as far as possible with our teaching and learning of chemistry even when on campus face-to-face contact is not possible. Our tertiary institutions play a critical role in not only training the next generation of chemists, but they are also tasked with the important responsibility of ensuring that many people from other professions and disciplines are trained in the fundamental principles of chemistry. We reaffirm our belief that this training is essential, as chemistry is one of the central sciences. Key to this training is the practical component and laboratory based skills development. While we accept that this critical component of our training is not possible under the current situation, we strongly urge that plans be put in place to preserve this component of training as part of the curriculum as far as possible. In some cases, virtual laboratory tools can facilitate learning, but we believe that “in laboratory practical training” particularly for senior level courses should be preserved. SACI strongly recommends that at least a critical minimum practical experience should form part of the plans to complete the 2020 academic year at our tertiary institutions. We believe that this is essential to preserve the validity and integrity of the academic training programmes in chemistry. Statement issued on behalf of the SACI Council, June 2020. Professor Peter Mallon President of SACI Diversity and Inclusion in the Chemical Sciences There is currently a renewed international debate with regards to inclusion and diversity within the chemical community that has been triggered by the recent opinion article published by Angewandte Chemie “Organic synthesis—Where now?” is thirty years old. A reflection on the current state of affairs” by Prof. Tomas Hudlicky. This paper has subsequently been withdrawn, however, that whole incident has highlighted that there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure inclusion and diversity. SACI were approached by the RSC to see if we would support a clear statement of the stance of International Chemical Societies against all forms of discrimination and exclusion. On behalf of SACI, our President, Professor Peter Mallon, was happy to commit and endorse the statement. You can follow the link https://www.rsc.org/news-events/articles/2020/jun/id-joint-societies-statement/ t o r e a d t h e statement. Congratulations to our SACI Award Winners We wish to congratulate all the winners of the 2020 SACI Awards. This is a wonderful achievement! The 2020 winners are: THE GOLD MEDAL – Prof Charles de Koning, University of the Witwatersrand THE MERCK MEDAL – Vincent O. Nyamori, as the senior author for the publication: S. Afr. J. Chem., 2016, 69, 51-66, entitled: “Synthesis, Physical and Antimicrobial Studies of Ferrocenyl-N(pyridinylmethylene)anilines and Ferrocenyl-N-(pyridinylmethyl)anilines” and authored by Eric M. Njogu, Bernard Omondi and Vincent O. Nyamori*. THE CHEMICAL EDUCATION MEDAL - Dr Margaret Blackie, Stellenbosch University THE SACI POST-GRADUATE AWARDS - Mr Adam Shnier, University of the Witwatersrand Ms Jean Lombard, Stellenbosch University Dr Ayomide H. Labulo, University of KwaZulu-Natal THE RAIKES MEDAL - Prof. Tricia Naicker, University of KwaZulu-Natal THE JAMES MOIR MEDALS: Mr I.J. Minnie University of Witwatersrand Ms A. Kritzinger University of Pretoria Ms S.A. Fraser University of KwaZulu-Natal Ms L. Amod University of Cape Town Ms P Maseko North-West University Ms B. Khuzwayo Durban University of Technology Mr G. Ramaremisa University of Limpopo Ms L. Mbonzhe University of Venda Mr M. Maritz Nelson Mandela University Sections and Divisions News SACI Council and Annual General Meetings The Council and Annual General Meetings of SACI were held on Thursday, 20 August via Zoom. At the AGM the new Life Members of the Institute were presented. These are: Name of Member Date joined the Institute Years of Membership Section Dr KJ Buchanan Prof GE Jackson Mr DJHP Reyskens Prof JP Michael 1971 1982 1980 1975 Western Cape Western Cape Western Cape Central 49 37 40 45 Collectively, they have served the Institute for over 171 years!! That is a phenomenal achievement and we wish to congratulate them and thank them profusely for their loyalty and dedication to the Institute! The new Fellows of the Institute were also presented. These are: Name of Member Section Professor John Bradley Central Professor Bette Davidowitz Western Cape Professor Charles de Konning Central Professor Patricia Forbes North Professor Perry Kaye Eastern Cape
