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Report from IUPAC-Sponsored Symposium

 

Macromolecules and Materials Science

5th Annual UNESCO school and IUPAC Conference on Macromolecules and Materials Science, 23-28 March 2002, Stellenbosch, South Africa

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by Robert G. Gilbert

The 5th Annual UNESCO school and IUPAC Conference on Macromolecules and Materials Science, held 23-28 March 2002 in Stellenbosch, South Africa, continues a series that has established an excellent reputation in Africa and beyond. The 2002 meeting was attended by about 151 delegates from 17 countries located in Africa, Europe, North America, East Asia, and Oceania.

The participants of the 5t h Annual South African UNESCO School/IUPAC Conference on Macromolecules and Materials Science.

The school instructed students on the basics of polymer chemistry, physics, and technology and introduced them to some of the latest techniques, such as controlled- radical polymerization. Excellent learning opportunities were provided to young African researchers.

Plenary lectures at the conference provided powerful insights into new polymer technologies, including advances made at SASOL (the South African petrochemical giant). Topics of the plenary lectures included the following: new materials by polymerization of olefins and styrene by metallocene catalysts (W. Kaminsky, Hamburg); green technology, preparation of moisture-proof polymer coatings that leave paper recyclable (R. Sanderson, Stellenbosch); molecular chirality- influencing material properties in subtle ways (B. Novak, North Carolina); and solid state NMR characterization of nanocomposites (L. Matthias, Southern Mississippi).

The conference organizers, professors Ronald Sanderson (Stellenbosch), Bert Klumperman (Eindhoven), Harold Pasch (Darmstadt), and Albert van Reenen (Stellenbosch) are to be congratulated for a program that was outstanding in both breadth and depth.

Professor Robert G. Gilbert is past president of IUPAC Macromolecular Division and is a member of the IUPAC Bureau. He is a professor at the University of Sydney, Australia.

<www.sun.ac.za/unesco/Conferences/Homepage.htm>

> Published in Chem. Int. 24(5), 2002


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