From food security and access to clean water to environmental pollution and human health – our global society faces many challenges to which the chemical sciences can help provide solutions. At the Finding Solutions Fair, the IChO participants met companies and many of their employees.
In addition to waterproof, breathable membranes from the start-up Dimfora, the start-up NexMR presented a new technology using sensitivity-enhanced NMR that can screen libraries of thousands of molecules within days. At Givaudan, the students were able to discover Ambrofix, an ambery molecule produced by sustainable synthesis, which is used in perfumes. At Metrohm, they got to know a model of a chromatography column and a titration robot. Lonza gave some examples of how interdisciplinary scientific collaboration can help solve problems and at the NCCR Catalysis, the students learned more about new carbon-neutral value chains for the production of fuels and chemicals, starting from renewable resources via catalytic processes. All in all, a very diverse and educational event.
 | Oleh from Ukraine was impressed: "At the Finding Solutions Fair, I found out about modern ways of solving chemical equations. I am so excited about the possibility to simulate chemical equations on modern computers and to get immediate results without having to be in a lab for days, weeks or even months or years. It saves much time and materials.” |
 | The Bulgarian team They were surprised by the big explosion and liked the pH indicator experiment. “We have seen most of the experiments online but for safety reasons we haven’t tried them at home. When preparing for the practical exam, we did useful but usual chemistry with no fun colors, so we are excited to see how much fun chemistry can be. “ |
 | Lauren Gamp from NCCR Catalysis He was happy with the outcome of the day: “I represent a programme from the Swiss National Science Foundation that aims to make more sustainable chemistry. A big part of our mission is to engage with the next generation of chemists and chemical engineers, so IChO is an incredible opportunity for us to do so!” |