Spring Chemistry Conference 2022
As part of our British Science Week 2022 celebrations, we are holding an inaugural Virtual Spring Chemistry Conference for KS4 (14-16 yrs) and their teachers. Two Oxford Chemistry researchers will share about their innovative work, and there will be plenty of opportunity for questions.
Plastics for our Future! - Hear from DPhil Kam Poon about his academic journey and his research into producing the next generation of sustainable plastics.
Small, yet Mighty! - Find out how our Glasstone Fellow, Dr Patricia Rodriguez Macia is exploring the use of enzymes in key reactions and how this sustainable approach could transform future energy generation.
Open to Year 10 and 11 students (or equiv., 14-16 yrs) and their teachers interested in finding out more about the cutting edge research happening in the field of chemistry, and hosted by the Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford. Students are welcome to attend unaccompanied by a teacher.
About the speakers:
Dr Patricia Rodriguez Macia is a Glasstone Fellow in Inorganic Chemistry at the Chemistry Department, University of Oxford and a EPA Junior Research Fellow at Linacre College. She earned her undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of Alicante (Spain), conducting her final year and final project in Chemistry at Aarhus University (Denmark). She then moved to Germany with a prestigious Fellowship from the European Leonardo da Vinci programme to perform a practical project in the Leibniz-Institut für Verbundwerkstoffe GmbH (IVW) research institute. In 2014, she started her PhD at the Biophysical Chemistry Department in the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion (MPI-CEC,) under Prof Wolfgang Lubitz’ supervision - PhD work which was recognised by the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award Ernst Haage Prize in 2017. After completing her PhD, Patricia took up a postdoctoral position at the Inorganic Spectroscopy Department in MPI-CEC, to work in Prof Serena DeBeer’s group, where she applied X-ray spectroscopy to study various metalloenzymes. In 2020, Patricia joined Prof Kylie Vincent’s group at the Chemistry Department in the University of Oxford as a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA), where she expanded her interests to the development of infrared spectroelectrochemical techniques for metalloenzymes engaged in catalytic turnover as well as to single crystal infrared microspectroscopy.
Kam Poon is a DPhil student in Inorganic Chemistry with the OxICFM CDT at the University of Oxford, working with Professor Charlotte Williams researching the 'Synthesis of next generation elastomers and engineering plastics'. In the summer of 2020, Kam completed my MSci in chemistry at UCL, achieving a 1st class Honours. Throughout his time at UCL, he particularly enjoyed learning about inorganic and materials chemistry and their applications to real-world challenges - choosing elective modules covering topics including polymers, metal oxides, thin films and catalysis. In his work, he aims to combine his love of chemistry and problem solving with a passion for environmental and sustainability issues.
