On May 14, 2024, 38 undergraduate students presented research posters at the first annual SMACS and UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Poster Session, hosted jointly by the Student Members of the American Chemical Society (SMACS) and the chemistry department.
After welcoming remarks given by SMACS board members in the Dongwon Yoo Seminar & Conference Hall, three UCLA faculty were invited to give opening presentations: Department Chair Professor Alex Spokoyny, Vice Chair of Undergraduate Education Professor Jorge Torres, and Professor Hannah Shafaat. Each professor spoke at length about their diverse and eccentric experiences with research during their own undergraduate tenures.
Following the opening talks, attendees gathered in the Mani L. Bhaumik Centennial Collaboratory for a poster session presented by departmental majors and undergraduates performing chemistry research. Attendees included undergraduate peers, graduate student mentors, faculty, labmates, and other departmental members. A panel of faculty members adjudicated the poster presenters during each session and awarded six Best Poster prizes, courtesy of the department.
Following the poster session, a reception and award ceremony were held. Undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral students, and faculty members had the chance to mingle in a casual setting and discuss the day’s events.
This was the third event hosted jointly by UCLA SMACS and the Chemistry & Biochemistry department in the 2023-2024 school year, the other two being student-faculty mixers held in the Fall and Winter quarters. SMACS hopes to provide more opportunities for departmental undergraduates to connect with chemistry graduate students and faculty and to create a welcoming environment within the department. Keep an eye out for more of these events in the future!
SMACS would like to thank the poster session faculty judges—Professors Justin Caram, Nicholas Deifel, Richard Kaner, Danielle Schmitt, and Hannah Shafaat—who helped award Best Poster prizes.
SMACS is the UCLA undergraduate chapter of the American Chemical Society. SMACS aims to nurture a social network for life and physical science undergraduate students, especially chemistry and biochemistry majors. SMACS holds weekly meetings from 6-7 PM on Wednesdays in Young Hall 2033 covering professional development, green chemistry, and service demonstrations. To find out more about SMACS at UCLA, visit https://www.chem.ucla.edu/acsbruins or check them out on instagram @smacsbruins.
Article by John Cao, SMACS, smacsbruins@gmail.com. Photos by Penny Jennings, penny@chem.ucla.edu.
