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Vol.
25 No. 5
September-October 2003
Polymer
Properties
by
R. D. Sanderson
The
6th
Annual UNESCO School & IUPAC Conference on Polymer Properties
was held in Mpumalanga, South Africa, 14-17 April
2003. The organizing committee was comprised of Prof. R. D.
Sanderson (UNESCO Associated Centre for Macromolecules and
Materials, Polymer Science Division, University of Stellenbosch,
South Africa), Prof. G. Michler (Martin Luther University,
Halle- Wittenberg, Germany), Dr. A. J. van Reenen (US, SA),
Dr. P. E. Mallon (US, SA) and Aneli Fourie (UNESCO Associated
Centre for Macromolecules and Materials, Polymer Science Division,
US, SA).
A
satisfactory number of delegates (102) participated, representing
23 countries other than South Africa. Delegates from the African
continent were from Libya, Gabon, Eritrea, and Uganda. Delegates
from non-western nations were from Russia, China, and Iran.
Other western countries represented were Germany, The Netherlands,
USA, Slovakia, United Kingdom, Budapest, Russia, Switzerland,
Spain, France, Belgium, Japan, Czech Republic, Israel, Poland,
Australia, Slovak Republic, and Korea. There were 26 students
who participated in the conference.
Fifty-seven
presentations were made (9 plenary speakers and 48 invited
speakers) by experts in their field. All others were accommodated
in a lively poster session especially popular for student
presentations.
Highlights
of the conference included the following lectures: Multifunctional
Materials Through Nanostructuring, by G. Wegner (Max Planck
Institute for Polymer Research, Germany); Extending the Frontiers
of Manipulating Soft Matter Towards Single Molecules, by G.
J. Vancso (University of Twente, The Netherlands); Polymer
Morphology: A Guide to Macromolecular Self-Organization, by
D.C. Bassett (University of Reading, United Kingdom); Crazing
and Fracture in Polymers: Micro-Mechanics and Effect of Molecular
Variables, by H. H. Kausch (Swiss Federation Institute of
Technology, Switzerland); and Polymer Nanofibres Produced
by Electrospinning, by D. Reneker (University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
USA).
Twenty-three
posters were selected for the twohour poster session, the
standard of which was very good. In conclusion, refreshments
donated by the local KWV (Pty) Ltd. and Distell (Pty) Ltd.
companies were enjoyed by all.
The
overseas plenary and invited speakers stressed the importance
to the African economy of postgraduate training in polymer
science and chemistry. A virtual teaching encyclopaedia, CD-ROM
2003 (PolymerED), is being created that will consist of all
abstracts as well as conference talks. This encyclopaedia,
which will provide an excellent tool for teaching and expanding
course notes, will be made available to all speakers who attended
the conference. It will be available for USD $50 per copy
through the UNESCO Associated Centre's Web site. It will be
placed in an abridged form on the Web site after approval
by each of the contributors.
The
7th Annual UNESCO Introductory Course (3-4 April 2004) and
UNESCO/IUPAC Conference (5-8 April 2004) will take place in
Stellenbosch, South Africa.
R.
D. Sanderson <[email protected]>
is the National Representative from South Africa on the IUPAC
Macromolecular Division Committee and a Task Group Member
on the project Establishment of Quantitative Reliability of
Electron Spin Resonance Techniques for Polymerization Kinetics.
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