Celebration

Chemical Day 2011- Celebrating the Journey of Chemical Engineering

Mehnaz Mursalat

The most awaited 'Chemical Day 2011' was celebrated with great grandeur and festivity at BUET on December 12, 2011. Jointly organized by the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemical Engineering Association, BUET, the three day long event triggered off with a Grand Rally.

Followed by a great rally and huge congregation of students on campus, the first day started off with the 'Farewell Ceremony' of the graduating batch and a 'Photography Exhibition'. The colorful 'Farewell Ceremony' of the graduating batch was chaired by Dr Syeda Sultana Razia, President of Chemical Engineering Association, BUET, while the chair for the chief guest was glorified by Dr Dil Afroza Begum, Head of the Department, Chemical Engineering, BUET. The batch of 2006 was bidden farewell amidst a mesmerizing cultural function, adorned with great musical performances, poetry recitations and short plays. The versatile captures of the students and graduates in the photography exhibition received much admiration from a large stream of visitors.

Courtesy: Mehnaz Mursalat

The second day included a magnificent movie festival which was held at the BUET auditorium. It was a great platform for the students to demonstrate their skills in film making alongside their engineering knowledge. 'Tokai Mithu', 'The Royal Chair', 'Drohanol', 'Tomorrow Never Dies', 'Ashun Natok Dekhi' were some of the short films shown in the fest, both produced and directed by the chemical engineering students, and received much appreciation from the audiences.

	Courtesy: Mehnaz Mursalat

A job seminar on 'Career opportunities for Chemical Engineers in Bangladesh' was held on the third and last day. The seminar was chaired by Dr Sultana Razia, President ChEA. Dr M Habibur Rahman, Pro-Vice Chancellor, BUET honoured the chair of the Chief Guest at the inaugural session of Job Seminar, while Dr Jasimuz Zaman, President ChEAA, and Dr Dil Afroz Begum, Head of the Chemical engineering department, BUET were also present as Special Guests in the seminar. Many multinational organizations like KAFCO Ltd, Shah Cement Ltd, United Commercial Bank Ltd, Apex group of industries and so forth delivered presentations and gave the students and engineers a distinct idea about their future job opportunities in the field of Chemical Engineering within the country.

On the eve of the 40th year of our victory in the 1971 liberation war, a souvenir named 'Espectro', dedicated to the martyred souls of the country, was issued. The souvenir contains some great articles, short stories, poems and many other literary pieces contributed by the teachers and students. The great festival concluded with a spell-binding and enthralling cultural show.

The entire event undoubtedly had been a magnificent one in nature, and months of laborious efforts and hard work by the students, faculty members, graduates and the alumni made it even more graceful and memorable. The sponsors are also to be thanked for their great assistance in terms of organizing such an event.

(The writer is a student of Department of Chemical Engineering, BUET)