Apr 3, 2019 | Environment, Events, Small Business
The 3rd Annual Hawaii Small Business Conference will be held at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on May 8 & 9, 2019, presented by the Maui Economic Development Board with the support of County of Maui Office of Economic Development. Business owners, managers, start-ups and entrepreneurs interested in increasing their business knowledge, sharpening their professional skills, expanding their business network, and taking their business to the next level are encouraged to attend.
Listen to experts and business owners on employee engagement, technology in business, video marketing, data protection, success planning, tax strategies and more.
Learn more at www.hawaiismall.biz
Mar 27, 2019 | Education, Stemworks
Maui High School 9th grader Faith Christy Soliven won First Place Senior Division Physics and Astronomy at the 60th Maui County Regional Science & Engineering Fair. Her project was “The Intriguing Short-Term Weather Variability of Jupiter”. One of the 18 merit award winners, Soliven will represent the Maui District in the Hawaii State Science & Engineering Fair on Oahu, April 8-10.
“My project investigates the short-term changes of Jupiter’s upper atmospheric structure over a 10-hour rotational period,” Soliven explained. “Data from the Las Cumbres telescopes allowed my mentor, Jessica Schonhut-Stasik, graduate student at the UH Institute for Astronomy in Hilo, and I to monitor the change in flux over the surface during a rotation period to see how Jupiter’s weather varies in the upper atmosphere as it rotates. Jupiter was good to observe, because of its large size, closeness, and brightness. Studying Jupiter’s short-term variability is a good pilot test for observing other planet’s weather in the future. We expect the observations can help us learn more about similar planets and how they affect the near-Earth space environment.”
Schonhut-Stasik said, “Faith is one of the best science students I’ve had. I’m so proud of her advancing to State on her first attempt. Also, I’m pleased that she has learned coding for Python. Coding is valuable for every graduate now and I’m glad I could provide her with that opportunity. I think we can expect awesome things from Faith, at State and in the coming years.”
Soliven was introduced to the concepts of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) at Lokelani Intermediate School, a Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) STEMworks™ school. “Sponsored by MEDB, I went to my first Hawaii STEM Conference and on field trips like ‘Introduce a Girl to Astronomy Day’ at the Haleakala Observatory,” said Soliven. “Being involved in these opportunities and extracurriculars inspired me to consider the vast number of opportunities provided in the STEM industry. I learned so much about the skills needed to perform problem-solving tasks and how applying that to the real world can make a huge difference in my life and impact many others.”
My motivation for this project was the idea of wanting to apply astronomy to understand our own planet and the solar system.
Faith Christy Soliven, Maui High School 9th grade
Mar 20, 2019 | Environment, Sustainability
First-place Maui County Regional Science & Engineering Fair Junior Division winners Holden Suzuki and Wilson Chau, Maui Waena Intermediate School STEMworks™ 6th graders, used the scientific method of photometric observations in their award-winning project, “Used Car, High Mileage”. “The purpose of our project was to view the compositions of asteroids through using color, the method commonly used by scientists,” Suzuki and Chau said. “We did this by gathering images of Elon Musk’s cherry-red Tesla convertible that he launched as the payload for the first flight of his new rocket, Falcon Heavy, in February 2018. The upper stage of the Falcon rocket pushed the Tesla car into an elliptical, heliocentric orbit between Earth and Mars.”
Suzuki and Chau explained, “The vehicle, having a known color, was chosen as the test object. We predicted that the vehicle would appear red because we used a method similar to the one scientists use to identify the composition of asteroids. We put data from three different filters into Astrometrica photometry software and got a color that was similar to white. Although the result wasn’t what we thought it would be, it ended up making us think more. We believe the reason it’s white is that the white booster rocket is still attached and flying with the vehicle. Given that the booster is much larger than the car, the results make sense. In conclusion, we learned that, even when we think differently at first, we have to trust our data. Some next steps would be to figure out how to get the white out of our data.”
Holden and Wilson’s mentor, Dr. J.D. Armstrong, Educational Outreach Specialist, University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy, said, “Some people thought there wasn’t really a car up there at all, so we decided to see if we could get some observations to support the claim that it was a car. The first thing that came to mind was to measure the color. This was fun and interesting science. Besides, it might be the real motivation for many of the greatest discoveries in science!”
We are extremely excited to represent Maui District in the Hawaii State Science & Engineering Fair on Oahu, set for April 8-10.
Holden Suzuki and Wilson Chau, Maui Waena 6th graders
Mar 13, 2019 | Education, Environment, Innovation
Maui resident Dr. T.S. Kelso has been tracking satellites for over 35 years. Kelso serves as a Senior Research Astrodynamicist and Space Data Center Operations Manager for the Center for Space Standards & Innovation at Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI). Throughout his career he has supported the space surveillance community by providing educational materials and data to satellite users around the world.
“My main job is running the Space Data Center, where we screen 748 satellites for 30 satellite operators from many nations,” Kelso explained. “We are screening these satellites to identify close approaches with other satellites and all the debris up there. Right now, there are 2,000 operational satellites in Earth orbit, and we track over 17,000 objects larger than 10cm. The real challenge is filtering through the hundreds of close approaches we see each day, so that the operators can focus on how to move in time to avoid a collision.”
AGI is a big supporter of education and has been a key sponsor for the annual Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference (AMOS) Conference, a program of Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB). “Not only does AGI sponsor AMOS, but we have hosted a star party each year to introduce attendees to the wonders of the Maui sky,” said Kelso. “In addition, we have supported MEDB’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) programs with free educational copies of our software.”
Kelso also operates the CelesTrak website, the world’s first private source for orbital element sets and related software and educational materials. The site is visited by more than 350,000 users each day and supports everyone from professionals operating satellites in orbit, to faculty, students, and other researchers investigating the space environment− to individuals who just want to go out to see the International Space Station pass over.
Kelso concluded, “All the safety and security considerations of air and sea travel now pertain to space travel at a vastly enhanced level because the costs and risks are even higher. The event of spacecraft colliding is serious to our global economy and security.”
We can move satellites so they don’t get hit, and we do that every day. AGI designs software to predict close approaches of satellites. That’s my job; that’s what I do!
Dr. T.S. Kelso, Senior Research Astrodynamicist and Space Data Center Operations Manager, Center for Space Standards & Innovation, AGI
Mar 6, 2019 | Environment, Events, Small Business
Hawaii has experienced enormous growth in distributed energy resources, primarily photovoltaic systems. This year’s conference will take an in-depth look at the innovative policies and technologies that continue to allow rapid growth in PV, and will compare Hawaii solutions with those in Colorado, California and other states. We will also ask what the right blend of fossil fuel and renewable energy sources is for the portion of our economy not covered by the Renewable Portfolio Standard. Come join the discussion at one of the nation’s leading energy conferences.
