International Chemistry Olympiad in France
Posted on August 19, 2019
The 51st International Chemistry Olympiad 2019 took place in Paris recently and was hosted by the French government.
Two Macleans College students, Rayman Tang (Rutherford House) and Daniel Ahn (Batten) were part of the New Zealand team. They arrived in Paris during the second week of the holidays following a short stay in Amsterdam with their mentor Dr Lal.
The Opening Ceremony was held at Maison de la Chimie, followed by a welcome lunch. After this, the mentors inspected the laboratories for the practical examination, before meeting the authors and translating the Experimental examination.
The students sat a five-hour practical examination the next day, followed by a five-hour written examination two days later.
The hosts had organised trips to the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre Museum and a River Seine cruise for both the students and their mentors. A Reunion Party was held at the Ecole Polytechnique after the examinations were completed.
Three days later, there was a Closing Ceremony where the awards were presented. Rayman Tang was awarded a Bronze medal and Daniel Ahn was given an Honourable Mention. This was followed by a cocktail dinner for all at Cite des Sciences. The following day, all teams headed home with the New Zealand team arriving back in Auckland on 2 August.