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Vol.
26 No. 2
March-April 2004
From the Editor
This is one of those years for IUPAC. As we start a new biennium, major changes are apparent, including the many new faces we must welcome to our numerous committees. With these changes come an influx of energy and new ideas, which when brewed with the current expertise will pave the way forward for IUPAC and its committees. (Is that not a perfect example of what “chemistry” is all about? Mixing this and that, to make something better. :>)
Seriously,
the working year started with no delay. Already a small group
from the Committee on Chemistry in Industry (COCI) met in
early February to review and establish future strategies for
the committee. David Evans, a newcomer to IUPAC who comes
straight from the industrial world and displays the dynamism
of a pop singer, now heads this group. See “The
Times They Are A-Changing” and COCI Will Need to Sing
Some New Songs, by D. Evans (in print p.4).
I was fortunate to be able to participate in that meeting with a mixed group of newcomers, including the chairman and Colin Humphris from CEFIC (the European Chemical Chemistry Council), but also experienced members such as Mark Cesa (secretary and now vice chairman COCI), Nelson Wright (retiring chairman), and Jonas Unger. Evans lost no time setting the stage and told the five of us that the doorway to the meeting room was a magical arch that made us all equal to contribute to the brainstorming sessions on the agenda. I have to admit that my experience with IUPAC did prepare me to contribute somehow, but I was not really prepared for the pace, openness, structure, and output-orientation of the meeting. These guys are something else, I thought. I cannot wait to work more with them, and I think you should too! They are the “Applied” in IUPAC. As Evans simply puts it, “COCI’s job is to ensure that the interests, viewpoints, and concerns of the chemical industry and its employees are represented and understood within IUPAC and vice versa.”
So if you think that there are gaps between the “pure” and the “applied” aspects of what IUPAC does, you should know that these guys are bridge builders. Your contributions to their endeavor could be as simple as letting them know where you stand and seeing if together you can make a bridge. (I shall stop now or I might just write a song for COCI’s new repertoire!)
Fabienne Meyers
[email protected]
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