UNIVERSITY OF SURREY TO HOST SCHOOLS CHEMISTRY FESTIVAL The University of Surrey is joining forces with local company, the BOC Group, in an attempt to make chemistry come alive and be more fun for 11-14 year-olds at a special Festival of Chemistry at the University on Thursday 2 April 1998. The event is to be co-ordinated by a team from the University's Chemistry department, together with help from the BOC Group which today announced that it will be donating £1,500 to cover the cost of staging this exciting event. One of 25 such festivals being staged nationwide by The Salters' Chemistry Club, the University of Surrey event will be attended by 16 teams of four students from schools in Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset - including Guildford High School, Glebelands School in Cranleigh and Hinchley Wood School. Each team will demonstrate a showpiece experiment planned in advance and will then participate in a scientific "egg race" - the aim being to win a place at a national final event at Imperial College London, on the 1 July 1998. "We are very pleased to be hosting this Festival once again," said Ian Hamerton, from the University's Chemistry department. "Chemistry is a subject which is central to all our lives whether we realise it or not. It is crucial to fighting disease, tapping new energy sources and protecting our environment. We must do all we can to stimulate and foster interest in the subject among young students who will be tomorrow's chemists." Confirming BOC's support for the second time around (the previous event was held in 1996), Barry Beecroft, managing director of BOC Gases Europe, said: "BOC would not be at the forefront of air separation technology were it not for intelligent and inquisitive young people who decided, at an early stage, that chemistry and chemical engineering were not only fun, but a route to a rewarding career." The BOC Group - one of the world's leading high tech companies - employs 1,000 people at the Surrey Research park and at its worldwide HQ at Windlesham. March 12 1998