Patna: The Indian Institute of Technology Patna is conducting a three-day residential Yusuf Hamied Chemistry Camp for more than 50 Grade IX and X students during May 9-11, 2023, in association with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), India. This Chemistry Camp aims to include fun in learning chemistry and promote appreciation for the subject by providing school students from diverse backgrounds an opportunity to explore practical chemistry. The chemistry camp also inspires them to pursue chemistry at university-level and beyond.
This is the 42nd edition of Yusuf Hamied Chemistry Camp. Yusuf Hamied is the non-executive chairman of Mumbai-based generics maker Cipla that was founded in 1935 by his father Khwaja Abdul Hamied. Mr. Yusuf Hamied was educated in the Cambridge University and his company (CIPLA) offers low- cost generic drugs for diseases such as AIDS and Covid-19.
During the inaugural programme, Director IIT Patna, Prof. T.N. Singh, Program Convenor, Dr. Amit Kumar along with all the faculty of Department of Chemistry, Program Executive, RSC, Ms. Melissa Mendonza, Shri Shyam Nandan Ji (DPO Govt. of Bihar) graced the programme with their presence. More than 65 school students of class 9 from different districts of Bihar were also present.
In his inaugural speech, Prof. T.N. Singh said, “Chemistry can never be studied at only theoretical level or in books only, it needs to be taught with equal practical skills. Along with that, being isolated, a kid can never grow up in all aspects of life and career. He or she needs to get involved in different group activities. This Chemistry camp will provide a good opportunity and also strengthen the foundation in Chemistry. He also thanked RSC, Royal society of Chemistry to select IIT Patna as the venue for this residential summer camp.
Shri Shyam Nandan Ji, Dept. of Education, Govt. of Bihar, graced the inaugural ceremony and gave a brief introduction about the educational schemes running in govt. secondary schools in Bihar. He said, “lab facilities and infrastructure are being constantly upgraded at a rapid pace in the govt. schools. This Chemistry camp will motivate school kids to work harder become scientists in future. He also thanked Dr. Amit Kumar, program convenor for arranging this chemistry camp that gave the students a chance to learn something new and innovative. He said he is grateful to RSC also and he felt privileged to be a part of this.
The program concluded with a vote of thanks proposed by Program Convenor, Dr. Amit Kumar. He added that “As a researcher or scientist, we do multiple research works and train our Ph.D. students. We we feel privileged to get a chance to create a zeal of chemistry among the students by conducting various interesting experiments.”
In the next two days, several chemistry experiments will be demonstrated to the students. Students will learn about safety rules required in chemistry lab while performing interesting experiments. Each student was provided with a school bag, a cap, a T-shirt, a lab apron and safety Googles. Additionally, each student was also provided a travelling allowance of Rs. 500. Free accommodation of students and accompanying school teachers has been arranged in the hostels of IIT Patna.
