Chemistry Conference at Qatar University

The 2nd International Conference on Chemistry and its Applications was held at the University of Qatar from December 6 — 9, 2003. The conference was attended by some 400 chemists from all over the world, particularly from the Middle East.

On the last day, a large party of delegates to the meeting was welcomed to the WCMC–Q building, and taken on a tour of the facilities.

Faculty from WCMC–Q who attended the conference were Dr. Terrance Murphy and Dr. Frank Smith, professors of chemistry, and Dr. Michael Pungente, assistant professor of organic chemistry. Dr Smith gave a keynote presentation entitled "The Global Growth of Microwave-Assisted Chemistry: A Review of this New Field".

The first morning session was devoted to chemical education and featured a plenary lecture by Dr David Harpp of McGill University, Canada, entitled "Lecture Retrieval on the Web - Better than Being There". The remainder of the conference was arranged in parallel sessions focussing on analytical, applied, inorganic, organic and physical chemistry and biochemistry.

There were many noted international scientists making presentations, A remarkable and somewhat controversial contribution came from Professor Joseph Davidovits, from the French Geopolymer Institute. He has proposed that the Great Pyramids were not made from carved stone transported from quarries, but were in fact cast in situ from re-agglomerated stones, similar to the way concrete slabs are cast on modern building sites.

The Chair of the Conference Organizing Committee, Dr Abdulla H. Al Kubaisi (Dean, College of Science, Qatar University) and the Conference Coordinator, Dr Hala Al-Easa, (Head of the Chemistry Department, University of Qatar) ensured that the conference was a great success.