Two of the four Israeli representatives at the annual International Chemistry Olympiad, held last week in the city of Tbilisi in Georgia, won the silver and bronze medals. Participating this year were 264 students from 66 countries.
The Olympiad, held for the past 48 years, is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads for high school students. The four high school students trained at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology’s Schulich Faculty of Chemistry and practiced there in recent months. The winners are: Ron Solan of Rishonim High School in Herzliya (silver medal) and Rina Sevostianov from Makif Gimmel High School in Ashdod (bronze medal). The other team members were Ophir Shmul from the Israel Arts and Science Academy in Jerusalem and Guy Harduf from Rishonim High School in the Harod Valley.
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Competitors participated in two exams, one theoretical and one a lab experiment, each five hours long. The students were instructed to synthesize a substance, kinetically monitor a chemical reaction and identify unknown substances based on chemical reactions.
The Israeli delegation was trained and accompanied by Prof. Zeev Gross, head of Technion’s youth programs in chemistry and Dr. Iris Barzilai – lab engineer.
“The material that the members of the delegation were tested on in the Olympiad was very advanced, far ahead of the chemistry taught in Israeli high schools, ” said Prof. Gross. “The four members of the Israeli team are outstanding among the thousands of students who participated in the screening process. The students attended intensive preparation camps to bring them to the desired level. We are pleased that two members of the delegation – Ron and Rina – won medals, and we are very proud.”
