8th Annual Battle of the Chemistry Clubs sponsored by Emergent BioSolutions

The 8^th annual Battle of the Chemistry Clubs (BCC) was held at Michigan State University (MSU) during the month of January. We had a record number of twelve undergraduate teams attending! Prior to the day of competition, teams were asked to complete a photo scavenger hunt of (bio)chemistry related items at their university. This activity would serve as the tiebreaker going into the quarter finals. Additionally, it encouraged team members to interact with different faculty and resources at their university. The morning events included No Strings Attached (a polymer activity), I’d Hit That (general chemistry trivia and periodic table darts), Protein Shake (amino acid word jumble and protein folding challenge), and You Call this Archaeology? (a calculation race). All teams competed in the quarter finals, a titration race where teams who competed well in the morning were given a time advantage. Judged on both speed and accuracy, 6 of the 12 teams moved on to the semi-finals (Aquinas College, Hillsdale College, Wayne State University, Michigan State University, University of Michigan- Flint, and Lake Superior State University). In the semi-finals (CSI East Lansing: Oscar is Dead), the six teams attempted to solve a murder mystery, talking to suspects and completing a variety of chemistry challenges. The teams with the highest scores (Michigan State University, University of Michigan – Flint, and Hillsdale College) battled it out in the Jeopardy-style finals. Michigan State University was taken out of the running when they could not compete in Final Jeopardy!, due to lack of funds. University of Michigan – Flint and Hillsdale College were tied going in and both teams decided to bet it all! When neither team was able to answer the final question correctly (entertainingly leaving everyone with zero points), the tie-breaker was called upon to decide the winner and University of Michigan – Flint won the Silver Sep Funnel!