UH Hilo enters into agreement with Bangladesh maritime university

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The universities will share academic and research opportunities in maritime safety, security, and navigational technologies, and marine, maritime and environmental management.

By Susan Enright.

A S M Abdul Baten and Marcia Sakai stand holding agreements.
(Left to right) A S M Abdul Baten, Vice-Chancellor, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Bangladesh, and Marcia Sakai, UH Hilo Interim Chancellor, at ceremonies on Friday recognizing a memorandum of understanding between the two universities.

A visiting delegation from Bangladesh was welcomed to the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo on Jan. 26, 2018, to formally recognize a memorandum of understanding. A maritime university in the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and UH Hilo have agreed to collaborate on academic and research initiatives in maritime and marine affairs.

Farrah Marie Gomes blows conch shell.
UH Hilo Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Farrah-Marie Gomes blows a pu (shell trumpet) during kīpaepae welina ceremonies to welcome delegation from Bangladesh.

At ceremonies on Friday, UH Hilo Interim Chancellor Marcia Sakai hosted the delegation from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, led by the Vice Chancellor and Rear Admiral A S M Abdul Baten and the Deputy Secretary of Education from the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Shahnaz Samad along with other officials.

“The signing of the MOU with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University broadens UH Hilo’s relationship with institutions of higher education in Asia and we are especially excited to be exploring with them collaborative opportunities in marine science, aquaculture and computer science,” says Sakai.

Members of the UH Hilo and Hawai‘i Community College Haʻakūmalae Protocols Program conducted a kīpaepae welina (welcome ceremony) for the guests (photos below).

Memorandum of Understanding

Under the agreement signed last year, the universities will share academic and research opportunities in maritime safety, security, and navigational technologies, and marine, maritime and environmental management.

During their visit, the delegation met with faculty from the UH Hilo Department of Marine Science and the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management to discuss projects under the agreement:

  • Academic exchange programs, university publications, treaties and research materials.
  • Short-term faculty exchanges for cooperation in research, teaching and other scholarly activities.
  • Pursuit of educational and research funding.
  • Joint research projects and publications.
  • Professional development courses in maritime topics provided by UH Hilo and delivered in Bangladesh or elsewhere as mutually agreed.

The memorandum of understanding is for five years with an option to extend.

Welcome Ceremonies

The Bangladesh delegation was welcomed to the UH Hilo campus on Friday with a kīpaepae welina (welcome ceremony). The group that led the ceremonies is part of the UH Hilo/Hawai‘i Community College Kīpaepae Committee and Haʻakūmalae Protocols Program run by Taupouri Tangaro, director; Gail Makuakāne-Lundin, UH System director (and executive assistant in the UH Hilo Office of the Interim Chancellor); and co-chairs Pele Kaio, Noel Tagab-Cruz, Kekoa Harman, and Kainoa Ariola. Malu Dudoit is an executive member.

“The kīpaepae welina incorporated pahu (drums), pu (shell trumpets), as well as hula and chants to welcome the delegation into the UH Hilo ‘ohana (family),” says Makuakāne-Lundin.

Group stands for group photo.
Representatives from UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College welcome the delegation from Bangladesh. (Front row, l-r) Gail Makuakāne-Lundin, Director of Protocols, UH System, and Interim Executive Assistant to the Interim Chancellor, UH Hilo; Captain M Nazrul Islam, Director of Finance and Accounts, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Bangladesh; Jan Rumi, Honorary Consul of Bangladesh and Morocco (Honolulu); Marcia Sakai, UH Hilo Interim Chancellor; Rear Admiral A S M Abdul Baten, Vice Chancellor, BSMRMU; Shahnaz Samad, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Education, People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Lieutenant Commander M Mojibur Rahaman, PS Coordinator to Vice Chancellor, BSMRMU; Farrah-Marie Gomes, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, UH Hilo; Ākeamakamae Kiyuna, Instructor, Hawai‘i Life Styles Program, Hawai‘i Community College; Misaki Takabayashi, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, UH Hilo; Meg Lea, Heritage Management Graduate Student, UH Hilo; Zinat Rahman, Math Instructor, UH Hilo; Heather Kaluna, Assistant Professor of Astronomy, UH Hilo. (Second row, l-r) Jerry Chang, Director of University Relations, UH Hilo; Mai Furusawa, Hawai‘i Life Styles Peer Mentor; Kalena Spinola, Kīpuka Peer Mentor, UH Hilo; Pele Kaio, UH Hilo student and Instructor, Hawai‘i Life Styles Program; No‘el Tagab-Cruz, Coordinator, Hawai‘i Life Styles Program; Puʻena Ahu, Hawai‘i CC student; Jim Mellon, Executive Director of Global and Intercultural Education Programs, UH Hilo; Marcia Heller, Private Secretary to the Interim Chancellor, UH Hilo; Ho‘oleina Ioane, Leadership Development Coordinator, Kīpuka, UH Hilo; Kalei Rapoza, Interim Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs; Carolyn Ma, Dean of the College of Pharmacy, UH Hilo; Shawon Rahman, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, UH Hilo; Jim Beets, Chair of the Natural Sciences Division and Professor of Marine Science, UH Hilo; Malu Dudoit, Community Engagement Facilitator, Mōkaulele Project, Office of the Chancellor, UH Hilo. (Back row, l-r) Ken Hon, Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, UH Hilo; Michael Bitter, Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, UH Hilo; Tam Vu, Interim Dean of the College of Business and Economics, UH Hilo; Jan Ray, Chair of the UH Hilo Faculty Congress; and Justice Castroverde-Moniz, Kīpuka Peer Mentor, UH Hilo.

 

-See media release on MOU.

 

About the writer of this story: Susan Enright is a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.

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