ACS President-Recommended Event during the ACS Fall 2026: CME-NASA: Chemistry in the Space Age. This JOINT 006 event has a sponsoring Committee (COMSCI) and Divisions (POLY, PMSE, BIOT, PHYS)
8/24 Day 1 AM – NASA and Academia. Venue: TBA (McCormick Place).
8/24 Day 1 PM – CME PMSE Students & Mentor Awards. TBA (McCormick Place). There will be talks by the winning teams from the University of Michigan and the University of Manchester, UK.
8/25 Day 2 AM – CME Lectures. Featuring Nobel Laureate Jack Szostak, DOE Office of Science Acting Director Harriet Kung, UChicago President Paul Alivisatos, Chad Mirkin and other distinguished speakers from Ames National Laboratory, U Florida, and UChicago. Venue: TBA (McCormick Place).
8/25 Day 2 PM – Earth & Space Sustainability.Venue: TBA (McCormick Place). Session features speakers from NASA Glenn, Cornell, Harvard, Oregon State, Boise State, UChicago/Argonne, UC Irvine.
While the ACS Fall Meeting—featuring over 100 symposia—typically welcomes more than 15,000 participants, this year’s CME symposium, recommended by the ACS President and President-Elect, is expected to remain among the most well-attended, drawing an estimated 1,200 attendees. This impressive turnout underscores the strong interest in the symposium’s distinctive focus and roster of distinguished speakers.
The purpose of this symposium is to bring together industry, academia, and government to enlarge the global STEM talent pool. Sessions will focus on sustainable cutting-edge innovation in the chemical sciences to advance human space travel to the solar system and beyond. Event talks translate research results into new knowledge to improve the lives of people worldwide.
The ACS Fall 2026 Meeting in Chicago (www.ACS.org) brings together many of the world’s top Chemists, Chemical Engineers, Physicists, Biochemists, Nanotechnologists and related professionals and students.
This symposium is the result of the collaboration of CME with NASA, the ACS Committee on Science (COMSCI), the ACS Polymer Chemistry Division (POLY) and the Division of Biochemical Technology (BIOT) as the sponsors and the ACS Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering (PMSE) as a co-sponsor. This ACS President recommended event (PRES) is packed with cutting-edge talks and panel discussions.
This symposium has attracted numerous outstanding new members to the ACS community through its focus on inspirational research, cutting-edge industry developments, and diverse career pathways in STEM. Since its inception, more than 5,000 STEM professionals and students have attended past events. Since 2017, the symposium has received the endorsement of every ACS President and, cumulatively, the leaders of up to 32 ACS technical divisions.
To help determine the room size and to keep up with schedule changes, speakers, venues and social activities, please register using the button above.
Event Supporters
Rigoberto Hernandez
American Chemical Society
2026 President John Hopkins Univ. Professor
Christina Bodurow
American Chemical Society
2027 President VP, Biosciences Research Institute
Honorees Lecturers
Jack Szostak
UChicago/HHMI
2009 Nobel Laureate in Physiology & Medicine 2026 CME Honoree for Origins of Life Research
Harriett Kung
U.S. DOE Office of Science
Dep. Director for Science Programs
Lecturers
Paul Alivisatos
University of Chicago
President 2022 CME Honoree for Global Innovation
Chad Mirkin
Northwestern University
Professor
CME PMSE Students & Mentor Awardees
David Kitto
Argonne National Laboratory
Postdoc Research Fellow
Jovan Kamcev
University of Michigan
Associate Professor
Lei Chen
University of Manchester
PhD Graduate
Guillaume de Bo
University of Manchester
Professor
Session Presiders
Ksenia Takhistova
CME Co-Chair & Gen. Counsel
IP Attorney LCM Biosensor Chief Legal Officer
George Rodriguez
ACS Fellow
Argeni Director PMSE and POLY Member
Shah Karim
CME Co-Chair
SafeRock CEO
Allison Christy
NASA Glenn
Research Chemical Engineer/Program Coordinator CME Volunteer
CME Lectures, Day 3 of the 2024 CME NASA Symposium, Sheraton Denver Downtown, Plaza Ballroom F
Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold and CME STEM Leadership Honorees NREL Director Martin Keller and Nobel Laureate Carolyn Bertozzi
CME PMSE Student & Mentor Awards in Polymer Chemistry Science & Engineering. Fr Left: Mentor Andrew Spakowictz and Student Pamela Cai, Student Laura Rijns and Mentor Patricia Dankers.
NASA Sustainability Panel. Fr left: NASA JSC Deputy Chief Scientist Kristen Fabre, Northwestern Prof. Chad Mirkin, NASA HQ Deputy Director Diana Ly and ISS US National Lab CSO Michael Roberts
Industry Sustainability Panel. Fr left: S&P Global Sustainability Deb Ryan, BOTTLE CTO Katrina Knauer, Deloitte Chemicals Bob Kumpf, Northrop Grumman Chief Mission Architect Jon Arenberg and Celanese Director Kevin Fogash
CME STEM Leadership Awards Presentation, fr left: Ksenia Takhistova, Honoree Martin Keller, Honoree Carolyn Bertozzi, George Rodriguez and Shah Karim
CME Lectures. In focus: ACS 2024 President Mary Carroll
CME Lectures. In front row: Nobel Laureate Carolyn Bertozzi asks a question to Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold
CME STEM Leadership Award to Nobel Laureate Carolyn Bertozzi for Advancing Diverse Talent
CME STEM Leadership Award to NREL Director Martin Keller for Excellence in Sustainability
CME Symposium Organizers: Shah Karim, George Rodriguez, Ksenia Takhistova and Cristi Stiers
Sheraton Denver Lobby Fireplace. From left: Northrop Grumman Mission Architect Jon Arenberg, CME Co-Chair Shah karim and CME NASA Symposium Founder George Rodriguez.
CME PMSE Student & Mentor Awards in Polymer Chemistry Science & Engineering. Fr left: Stanford team Andrew Spakowictz and Pamela Cai, and TU Eindhoven team Laura Rijns and Patricia Dankers.
2024 CME PMSE Student & Mentor Awards. Fr Left: George Rodriguez, LaShanda Korley, Honorees Andrew. Spakowictz, Pamela Cai, Laura Rijns, Patricia Dankers; Ksenia Takhistova and Mike Hore.
