Head's Newsletter 14 July 2022

SALTER INSTITUTE CHEMISTRY DISCOVERY DAY

The Salters Institute Chemistry Discovery day was absolutely fantastic, and not only did we learn a lot about careers in Chemistry, but the entire day was also well structured with the right balance between theoretical and practical engagement as well as interactive activities and sessions. The day had a really early start, but we knew it would be one to enjoy, right from our scenic train journey to Portsmouth. Having arrived at the Salters Institute, we received a very interactive and informative session by Professor Paul Cox on Computational Chemistry, where we had a Q and A session as well as seeing some really fantastic work in the field via 3D models. I found it fascinating to see him demonstrate how the modelling software that he used worked. We then subsequently had an amazing practical activity where we got to organically synthesise our own aspirin, which I found to be really amazing because we used our foundation in chemistry and expanded on it to create a real life - saving product. Despite this difficulty, all our students produced a successful batch of the substance and learnt invaluable information about practicals from University professors. After analysing the success of our own aspirin synthesis by testing how pure the aspirin was by investigating its melting point and percentage yield, we headed back in the afternoon, for an experts career panel, composing of 2 computational chemists and 1 marine chemist - all members of Portsmouth ’ s faculty. We found the day to be absolutely amazing, not only gaining plenty of insight and knowledge but also the opportunity to question experts in their fields, who have had exposure to numerous chemical industries. My favourite part of the day however was synthesising our own aspirin as we used practical chemical skills building on the foundation of the chemistry, we learnt in school to create something worthwhile and a product that is used almost universally. We can speak for everyone who went on the trip, in saying it was an absolutely brilliant experience and not only learning so much but putting our practical and analytical skills to the test, we found the experience to be one of its kind and given the opportunity, we would love to go again and explore Chemistry in such vast depth.