SOUSCC46 celebrated undergraduate research at Wilfrid Laurier University

The 46^th Southern Ontario Undergraduate Student Chemistry Conference (SOUSCC46) was hosted by Wilfrid Laurier University’s Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry on March 24, 2018 in Waterloo, Ontario.

Attended by more than 200 undergraduate researchers, graduate student volunteers, and academic and industrial representatives, the conference featured 32 poster presentations and 103 oral presentations in five symposia: Inorganic & Materials Chemistry; Organic Chemistry; Physical, Theoretical, and Computational Chemistry; Analytical Chemistry; and Biological & Medicinal Chemistry plus a General Session. The keynote address was delivered by Cathleen Crudden, professor at Queen’s University, who spoke about the importance of taking risks throughout one’s career.

Top photo: Student volunteers made SOUSCC46 a huge success! Bottom photo: A total of 32 students presented their research during the poster session, in addition to 103 oral presentations. Photos by Kayla Samms and Dana Sowa.

The conference organizers would like to thank all sponsors of the event, particularly the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) through its Chemical Education Fund, the volunteer judges, the small army of undergraduate student volunteers organized by the Laurier Chemistry Association (LCA) that made the conference such a success, and the undergraduate researchers who presented their work with pride and professionalism. Congratulations to all award winners!

SOUSCC46 Award Winners

Analytical Chemistry

1^st place: Baian Almusned, Western University

2^nd place: Alexandra Deckert, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

3^rd place: Abhilash Kavuru, York University

Biological and Medicinal Chemistry

1^st place: Jessica Chorolovski, Trent University

2^nd place: Evan Shepherdson, University of Waterloo

3^rd place: Reta Bodagh, University of Toronto

4^th place: Jeffrey Palumbo, University of Waterloo

Honourable mention: Ruqaiya Qureshi, York University

General Session

1^st place: Menandro Cruz, University of Toronto

2^nd place: Greg Yousif, University of Windsor

Honourable mention: Elida Bani, York University

Inorganic and Materials Chemistry

1^st place: Jade Poisson, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

2^nd place: Hlib Razumkov, University of Toronto

3^rd place: Matthew McLaughlin, University of Windsor

4^th place: Kathy Nguyen, University of Windsor

Honourable mention: Kyle Classen, Western University

Organic Chemistry

1^st place: Jacklyn Liu, University of Toronto

2^nd place: Scott Sammons, University of Guelph

3^rd place: Michael Botelho, Western University

4^th place: Lucas Kapeniak, Queen’s University

Honourable mention: Benjamin Bridge, Western University

Physical, Theoretical and Computational Chemistry

1^st place: Sydney Legge, Western University

2^nd place: Maya Olechnowicz, Western University

3^rd place: Ruben Mirzoyan, University of Toronto

4^th place: Xinyu (Linda) Ye, Western University

Poster Session

1^st place: Nina Farac, University of Toronto

2^nd place: Luke Kyne, University of Toronto

3^rd place: Yuelang Chen, University of Toronto

Honourable mention: Michael Fish, Wilfrid Laurier University