Contributions of ACS-USM student chapter in nurturing younger chemists in Malaysia

Holistic, entrepreneurial, balanced, articulate, and thinking are the core values advocated by the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). The ACS-USM International Student Chapter was established in 2014. While supporting the university agenda, it also empowered the role of academicians and students in chemistry education. The objective of this chapter is to provide students with a platform to showcase their scientific minds, thereby improving the marketability of graduates. For example, we jointly organized the “Interchapter Industrial Visit 2019 to Fumakilla Malaysia”, organized the “Innovative Chemists Competition 2019” and other outreach programs to expose our members to a deeper insight into the chemistry world. The competitions support students to enter the research world earlier than their peers. We have also advanced programs to promote scientific literacy to facilitate a better understanding of chemistry in daily life among the public. Following the goals of this chapter, our members have actively participated in the annual “Penang International Science Fair” which involves children and teenagers in the local community, college students, industry, and scientists across the country. The fun and exciting scientific demonstrations for elementary and high school students successfully aroused their enthusiasm for chemistry knowledge. In terms of professional development, some of our members were fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in the National Meetings with part of the financial sponsor came from ACS National Meeting Traveling Grants. They were given opportunities to challenge themselves in various real-life situations, from soft-skills development to current chemical processes. The ACS-USM student chapter currently has 83 members, and through the organization’s fruitful programs, we continuously strive to promote student participation and scientific literacy among undergraduate students in USM.