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-- 2013 --
- May 4, 2013 -
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HSGC's Art and Rene Kimura (directors of Future Flight Hawai‘i) shared Hawai‘i Space Grant Consortium projects and activities at the 12th annual AstroDay Festival, May 4, 2013, which was held at the Prince Kuhio Plaza in Hilo, Hawai‘i. A celebration of Astronomy and Hawaiian Culture, AstroDay coincides with Astronomy Day, an iternational movement to bring Astronomy to the people. The event is a project of the Mauna Kea Astronomy Outreach Committee. For more, please see the AstroDay website. |
- April 27, 2013 -
Spring Fellowship & Traineeship Symposium
Undergraduate students from U. H. campuses presented talks and posters on their Space Grant Fellowships and Traineeships on Saturday, April 27, 2012 at U. H. Mānoa, in POST rooms 703/723 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Also attending were mentors, Space Grant directors, and the public. The meeting gave new and continuing Fellows and Trainees the opportunity to share research plans and progress, and gave the students a look at space-related subjects outside their own disciplines. Spring 2013 Symposium Schedule (pdf).
- April 25 , 2013 -
Hawai‘i Space Grant Undergraduate Fellows Justin Bergonio (Fall 2011, Spring 2012) and Kimberly Rottas, (Spring 2011) have published a paper with their Space Grant mentor Dr. Norbert Schorghofer of the U.H. Institute for Astronomy that includes work they accomplished during their Fellowships. The paper, "Properties of Martian Slope Streak Populations" appears in the online early view of Icarus volume 225. See the online abstract here. Well done!
- April 14, 2013 -
 | HSGC's Art Kimura (Director of Future Flight Hawai‘i) is one of the featured speakers at the Pacific Tsunami Museum's 11th Annual Tsunami Story Festival in Hilo, April 14, 2013. The theme this year is "Wailoa River Legends" and according to Donna Saiki, executive director of the museum, "It's the story of four people who grew up around the river, who came from very humble beginnings and went on to achieve great things." For more information see the Hawai‘i Tribune Herald article written by John Burnett "1946 Tsunami Remembered." |
- April 2, 2013 -
Daniel Wukelic Receives 2012 NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) Associate Administrator Award
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With support from Hawai‘i Space Grant Consortium, U.H. Manoa Mechanical Engineering student Daniel Wukelic worked as a NASA Ames Aeronautics Academy summer 2012 intern in Mountain View, California; see our 2012 News item. Daniel's internship included a trip with his student-team mates, Guillermo Costa and Austen Knapp, to Washington DC to present their project at NASA Headquarters, "Designing Two Short-Haul Civil Tiltrotors." They called themselves the Tilt Rotor Analysis Crew (TRAC). Dr. Jaiwon Shin, the Associate Administrator for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD), has announced that the three students have won the 2012 NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) Associate Administrator Award in the category of "High Potentials—Group." The NASA award announcement (here) states, "Awarded to the TRAC team for advancing the state of the art and directly contributing to solving an ARMD technical challenge by developing a feasible design for a new class of vertical lift heavy transport aircraft. Their work exceeded NASA's Rotary Wing Project's efforts to date by understanding the scaling issues related to very large passenger civilian vertical lift transports (up to 300 passengers). In just eight weeks, the team of three summer academy students at NASA's Ames Research Center reviewed current designs and extrapolated a new engineering approach, demonstrating great potential and skills in a variety of aeronautics disciplines and sciences." We congratulate Daniel and his team mates for their exemplary work. |
- March 10, 2013 -
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Elwood, the Dream Big doll, has returned to his home in Illinois after a two-month visit to Hawai‘i with HSGC's Art and Rene Kimura (Directors of Future Flight Hawai‘i) as his main hosts. Art says the 33-gallon Dream Can, which Elwood travels in, is filled to the brim with souvenirs of Hawai‘i, including school booklets and letters, Aloha shirt, leis, macadamia nuts, and BrushBot robotic kits. The Dream Can will be opened by a second-grade class in Illinois. |
| During his visit, Elwood was a guest at the Astronaut Ellison Onizuka Science Day, six FESTival science family nights, a robotics teacher workshop, the Pan Pacific VEX Championship, and the Hawai‘i Council of Engineering Societies/Pearlridge VEX tournament. Elwood visited many classrooms on the Big Island and Oahu, visited the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center and the summit of Mauna Kea–visiting the Subaru Telescope with Subaru astronomer, Dr. Hayashi. Elwood was in several hundred photos, TV news segments on KITV and KGMB, and met NASA Astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams and Miss Hawaii USA, Brianna Acosta. We are sure Elwood would welcome a return visit to our islands! | |
- March 1, 2013 -
Joleen Iwaniec, former Space Grant rocketry fellow (with experience at multiple CanSat rocketry competitions) and current UH Electrical Engineering major, talks about how rocketry is inspiring kids to love STEM on Think Tech Friday at KGU radio, AM 760, on the air today from 4-5 p.m. Joleen is the founder of the Kids in Technology and Sciences program (KITS) that runs numerous STEM educational outreach projects, including visits to the Center for Aerospace Education at Windward Community College. Read more about Joleen in this (pdf file) article from Space Grant's Na Huaka‘i Newsletter, winter 2010 issue.
- February 23-24, 2013 -
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Pan Pacific VEX Robotics Championship In support of STEM education in Hawai‘i, HSGC's Art Kimura and Rene Kimura (who were inducted into the VEX Hall of Fame in 2012) are again on the steering committee for the Pan Pacific VEX Robotics Championship taking place at the Hawai‘i Convention Center, February 23-24, 2013. The Championship, which is the 5th annual in Hawai‘i, features 104 teams from Hawai‘i, China, Taiwan, and California, and includes Hawai‘i elementary school teams for the first time. See this VEX Hawai‘i flyer (pdf) for more details of the event, and the VEX homepage. |
- February 6, 2013 -
A special event took place at Nanaikapono Elementary School in Waianae, Hawai‘i the evening of February 6, 2013. HSGC's Art Kimura and Rene Kimura (Directors of Future Flight Hawai‘i) brought the Future Flight FEST evening program to students in grades 2-6 and their families. FEST = Families Exploring Science Together (read more about the FEST program here.) What made the visit extra meaningful was the fact that the Kimuras had a special relationship with a Nanaikapono student named Reynolds Akau, who they corresponded with regularly and brought to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. Reynolds unfortunately passed away in 1992 of an aneurism at the age of 15. This young student made such an impression because of his fascination with space, his boundless curiosity, and his desire to be the first astronaut of Hawaiian descent. His is a story that still inspires. Art Kimura has said about Reynolds, "His funeral program is near my computer and I look at it regularly to remind us about what we do and how we do things can make a difference in children."
- February 2, 2013 -
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Loud Solar Radio Burst Joe Ciotti, HSGC Associate Director at Windward Community College, points our attention to the graphical and audio files from WCC's radio telescope at the Lanihuli Observatory used in a report at spaceweather.com. A loud solar radio burst attributed to a solar flare on February 2, 2013 was reported in spaceweather.com with data submitted by WCC's affiliate radio astronomer, Dick Flagg: Read the news report and listen to the solar activity. Dynamic spectrum credit: Dick Flagg, Windward Community College Radio Observatory, Oahu, Hawai‘i. |
- January 26, 2013 -
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| Hawai‘i Space Grant Consortium was proud to again co-sponsor Astronaut Ellison Onizuka Science Day, an annual event in Hilo honoring Hawaii's native son. Additional co-sponsors are the American Savings Bank, The Onizuka Memorial Committee, the Astronaut Ellison Onizuka Space Center, the Onizuka family, the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo (UHH), UHH Conference Center, and Future Flight Hawai‘i, together with the support of the Hawai‘i Department of Education (Kau/Pahoa/Keaau Complex), the Waiakea High School Key Club, and the Zonta Club of Hilo. This year's event, the 13th annual, featured 22 workshops, displays by organizations and companies, and a special keynote address by NASA Astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams who served as Commander of the International Space Station last year during Expedition 33. Astronaut Williams' keynote speech had a standing-room-only capacity crowd of 600. The day closed with a "Science is Fun" show by award-winning teacher "Mr. Science" Dale Olive (Waiakea High School) and his mapcap partner "Mr. Physical Trainer." Pictured above are (left) Astronaut Sunita Williams and (right) participants in a workshop. |
- January 22, 2013 -
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| HSGC's Art Kimura and Rene Kimura (Directors of Future Flight Hawai‘i) brought the Future Flight Brushbot FEST evening program to students in grades 2-7 and their families at Island Pacific Academy in Kapolei, Hawai‘i. FEST = Families Exploring Science Together (read more about the FEST program here.) Michelle Bradley, Former Space Grant Fellow (2006-2007) and currently the Secondary Science Department Chair, Science Fair Coordinator, and Robotics Program Coordinator at Island Pacific Academy, shares this news link from the school "FESTival on Campus Includes Special Guest to Highlight STEM." The Kimuras brought special guest, character doll Elwood to help encourage students to dream big and pursue STEM careers. Local TV also covered the event; click on each image to view the video clips. |
- January 4, 2013 -
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Hawai‘i Space Grant Consortium and HSGC's Art Kimura and Rene Kimura (Directors of Future Flight Hawai‘i) welcomed Elwood on January 4, 2013 for a two-month visit to Hawai‘i. Known worldwide as the Dream Big doll, Elwood will visit local schools and students. He is pictured in front of the Mars map in the hallway of HSGC's main office at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Watch Elwood's Story video. |
* Ohana is the Hawaiian word for family, encompassing all the people, related or not, who come together to help achieve a better life.
