Group of summer interns at Hawai‘i Island observatories to present their projects

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The Akamai Workforce Initiative uses a unique model where current professionals train the interns in the skills needed to be successful.

Group of interns gather. Front row is seated, next row kneeling and back row standing.
Interns in the 2015 Akamai Workforce Initiative program. Courtesy photo.

Twenty-one students who graduated high school in Hawaiʻi and are now attending UH or other universities around the country, are this week finishing up their internships at several Hawaiʻi observatories and high tech companies. The students are participating in the Akamai Workforce Initiative internship program, which is designed for students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) fields.

Now in its 13th year, the Akamai program uses a unique model where current professionals train the next generation students in skills needed to be successful. The interns are given valuable practical experience and professional coaching.

The 2015 Akamai Workforce Initiative program is funded by the Thirty Meter Telescope, the University of Hawaiʻi System, the THINK Fund at the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, the National Solar Observatory, the National Science Foundation, and the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.

2015 Akamai Interns

The students began their internships in June as a single cohort taking a preparatory course for credit at UH Hilo. They then broke out into groups to spend seven weeks at various intern sites located in Hilo, Kona, and Waimea on Hawaiʻi Island, and in Pasadena, Calif.

Interns:

  • Racieli Andrada, Maui High and attending California Polytechnic State University
  • Paul Barnes, Hilo High and attending UH Hilo
  • Celina Bekins, Seabury Hall and attending Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
  • Brittany Denzer, Kealakehe High and attending Colorado College
  • Jasmine Feliciano, Maui High and attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute
  • Kapono Gaughen, Kealakehe High and attending UH Mānoa
  • Tuan Giang, Kaiser High and attending UH Hilo
  • Michael Gorman, Kamehameha Maui and attending Syracuse University
  • Mickie Hirata, Hawaii Preparatory Academy and attending University of Redlands
  • William Kaeo, Nanakuli High and attending Kapiolani Community College
  • Kourtney Kehr, Ponderosa and attending University of Colorado at Boulder
  • Saxon Knight, Homeschool and attending UH Maui
  • Tina Li, McKinley High and attending UH Mānoa
  • Brialyn Onodera, Kamehameha Hawaii and attending UH Mānoa
  • Kevin Ryan, Kapolei High and attending Honolulu Community College
  • Derae Shibata, King Kekaulike High and attending UH Maui
  • Hannah Twigg-Smith, Hawaii Preparatory Academy and attending Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
  • Luke Van Der Spoel, Kealakehe High and attending Rice University
  • Alexandra Van Pernis, Hawaii Preparatory Academy and attending Brown University
  • Darren Wong, McKinley High and attending UH Mānoa
  • Raycen Scott Wong, Waiakea High and attending UH Mānoa

Presentation schedule

Each student in the cohort will present his or her summer project at one of four locations over the coming week. There will be a question and answer period after each presentation. The events are free and open to the public.

  • Pasadena, Calif., on Monday, August 3. Features students Racieli Andrada, Paul Barnes and Jasmine Feliciano presenting their projects with the Thirty Meter Telescope and Caltech Optical Observatories.
  • Hilo on Wednesday, August 5, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Institute for Astronomy Auditorium (640 North Aʻohoku Place). With students Tuan Giang, Tina Li, Hannah Twigg-Smith, Luke Van Der Spoel and Darren Wong presenting summaries of their projects for the Institute for Astronomy, Gemini Observatory, Smithsonian Submillimeter Array and the Subaru Telescope. In addition Racieli Andrada, Paul Barnes and Jasmine Feliciano will present their projects with the Thirty Meter Telescope and Caltech Optical Observatories.
  • Waimea, Hawaiʻi Island, on Friday, August 7, at the Keck Observatory’s Hualalai Theater. Students Brittany Denzer, Kapono Gaughen, Mickie Hirata, William Kaeo, Brialyn Onodera, Alexandra Van Pernis and Raycen Scott Wong presenting their project summaries on their work at W.M. Keck Observatory, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, Big Island Abalone Corporation, Cellana and the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaiʻi Authority.
  • Maui on Monday, August 10, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Pacific Disaster Center, Training Room #21. Students Celina Bekins, Michael Gorman, Kourtney Kehr, Saxon Knight, Kevin Ryan and Derae Shibata presenting their project work at Air Force Research Laboratory, Akimeka and the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope.

Reservations

An RSVP is required to attend the various symposium events. Email ISEE[at]USCS.edu for reservations.

Akamai Workforce Initiative

Fifty percent of this year’s cohorts are female and 32% are Native Hawaiian. The addition of this year’s 21 interns brings the total number of college students served by the Akamai program to 300.

The Akamai Workforce Initiative was originally developed by the National Science Foundation Center for Adaptive Optics at University of California-Santa Cruz in 2002. Every major telescope in Hawaiʻi and many tech companies have participated. The Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators at UC Santa Cruz leads the initiative.

-Media release

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