The University of San Carlos Department of Chemistry hosted a small scale chemistry workshop for 100 high school teachers on August 1 and 2, 2024 at the SAFAD Building in Talamban Campus.

Officers and members of the Chemical Society of Thailand conducted the workshop aided by faculty members and staff of the USC Department of Chemistry. The workshop was sponsored by Bangkok Bank.

Teachers from different high schools in Cebu participated in the workshop, which showcased table top experiments demonstrating important chemical concepts. “We would like to show that chemistry can be taught without the expensive laboratory facilities and equipment, which is typically the case in public high schools,” said Prof. Supawan Tantanyanon, a retired Chemistry professor at Chulalongkorn University and head of the visiting Thai team.

This was the reason why the workshop was carried out in the spacious common areas of the School of Architecture, Fine Arts, and Design (SAFAD) building. Another highlight of the workshop was the lack of hazardous waste since the amounts of chemicals used are very small or very dilute.

His Excellency Tull Traisorat, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Philippines, graced the occasion as part of the celebration of 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The 100 high school teachers who participated returned home with the small scale chemistry kits that they used during the workshop. Philippine Association of Chemistry Teachers President Voltaire Organo, Ph.D. was also in attendance as an observer in preparation for the third leg of the workshop in Luzon next year. The first leg was hosted by Mylene Uy, Ph.D. (MSU-IIT) in Mindanao last year.