STEM educationWorld’s top high-school chemistry students to compete in the International Chemistry Olympiad
On 20 July, nearly 300 high school students from more than seventy countries will arrive in the Washington, D.C., area to compete in the 44th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) at the University of Maryland, College Park
On 20 July, nearly 300 high school students from more than seventy countries will arrive in the Washington, D.C., area to compete in the 44th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) at the University of Maryland, College Park. This Olympics of the mind begins 21 July ending 30 July 30, just after the start of the Summer Games in London. The American Chemical Society (ACS) is the official organizer and the Dow Chemical Company is the official sponsor of the IChO.
The United States is routinely a strong performer at the international event. Last year’s team brought home two gold and two silver medals. In 1999 and 2000, a member of the American team won the top gold medal.
An American Chemical Society release reports that the U.S. team members are Jason Ge from Westview High School in San Diego; Sidharth Chand from Detroit Country Day School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; Christopher Hillenbrand from Regis High School in New York City; and James Deng from Choate Rosemary Hall School in New Haven, Connecticut.
While the students will face challenging written and laboratory problems during their 10-day event, they will also enjoy games, athletics, and sightseeing, as they meet peers from around the world and make lasting friendships.
Competition for the U.S. team was intense. It started in the spring when more than 14,000 chemistry students took a rigorous exam in schools across the country. About 1,000 of them advanced to take the national exam for the Chemistry Olympiad, and the top twenty went on to a 2-week study camp at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. At the conclusion, the U.S. team and two alternates were selected.
The IChO originated with Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary in 1968. Soon, other Eastern European countries joined the event; Western Europe began participating in 1974. The first U.S. team competed in 1984, winning one silver and two bronze medals.
“This year is especially important to the team because, for only the second time in IChO history, the Olympiad will be held in the U.S.,” said ACS president Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, Ph.D. “It’s a great honor for us to be the host country for this Olympics of the mind, especially at a time when a scientifically trained workforce is so critical to our future. We also appreciate the U.S. Senate demonstrating the importance of this Olympiad by passing, with unanimous consent, Senate Resolution 491 recognizing the 44th International Chemistry Olympiad.”
“At Dow, with more than 100 years of investment in STEM education programs, we know that innovation begins not only in the classroom but also in personal imagination,” said Bo Miller, Global Director for Corporate Citizenship for The Dow Chemical Company and President and Executive Director of The Dow Chemical Company Foundation. “We are excited to use the 44th International Chemistry Olympiad as an opportunity to engage and inspire bright young scientists from across the globe to pursue careers in chemistry as a means of creating solutions to challenges that affect our planet, our communities and improve the human condition.”