Jul 11, 2018 | Education, Innovation, Stemworks
A recent talk at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy focused on Listening to Planetary Orbits. Dan Tepfer, master pianist and astrophysicist, said to a captivated audience, “With most things, I’ve found, what’s very interesting is not the thing in itself, but rather its relationship to other things. Everything is relative, which is why harmony, pitch, and rhythm are so stunning in the relationships among the orbits of the planets around Trappist-1, a dwarf star about 40 light years away from us.”
Tepfer told how it is only in the past 25 years that we have been able to detect planets in orbit around stars other than our own, by measuring faint dips in a star’s brightness as planets pass in front of it. What makes the Trappist-1 system unusual is the existence of harmonious relationships among its planetary orbits. The farthest planet completes an orbit every 18 Earth days and the next farthest once every 12. Tepfer explained, “In the time it takes the farthest planet to go twice around the star, the next farthest has gone around three times. This same ratio can be expressed as a musical interval, which allows us to hear the structure of the planetary system.” In other words, we can listen not only to our own solar system, but to other planetary systems as well. Tepfer used a sound synthesizer to play this and other orbital harmonic intervals for the audience, an unforgettable experience for many of those present.
“We hear sound when the air around us vibrates and those vibrations reach our ears. Vibrations are like orbits: they repeat at a certain frequency,” Tepfer said. “With the Trappist-1 system, it is not only the outer two planets that orbit in resonant harmonic relationships. Surprisingly, all seven do—the only planetary system discovered so far with so many resonant orbits. Without approximating the orbits in any way, by just presenting the data scaled up to our range of hearing, we hear what we readily identify as harmonious music.”
Trappist-1 is located 39.6 light-years from the Sun in the constellation Aquarius. Seven terrestrial planets have been detected orbiting the star, a larger number than detected in any other planetary system.
Dan Tepfer, Astrophysicist and Master Pianist
Jul 4, 2018 | Education, Stemworks
On Saturday, August 25, 2018, Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) will hold their annual Ke Alahele Education Fund Benefit Dinner & Auction, I ♥ STEM, at the Grand Wailea Resort to celebrate the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) achievements of students in Maui County and statewide. “The Ke Alahele funds provide state-of-the-art technology tools for our students and training for our teachers, investments that will make a difference in the lives of our residents and our community,” said Leslie Wilkins, MEDB President and CEO. “MEDB partners with the private, public and nonprofit sectors to reach its goal of helping the next generation soar into the future.”
MEDB recently announced that recipients received Ke Alahele Education Fund STEM grants totaling more than $142,000 during the 2017-2018 school year. The Ke Alahele event celebrates the Fund’s impressive giving which enhances education and training. MEDB will also present the Daniel K. Inouye (DKI) Innovation Award honoring the late Senator who inspired our youth and provided STEM opportunities throughout Hawaii.
“The DKI awards are presented to a Maui County student or team that demonstrates the most innovative use of STEM tools to improve our community,” Wilkins explained. “Students select a societal issue and then, by using sophisticated technology and possibly inventing their own tools, they create a real solution to address the community challenge.”
Agreeing, Curtis Tom, Maui County Senior Vice President Bank of Hawaii and Chair of the MEDB Education Fund, said, “Jobs today and in the future depend on the preparation of our students in critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, and creativity—all skills nurtured by STEM education. Those who support the MEDB Ke Alahele Fund through our annual fundraiser are helping to make this investment in our state’s future workforce.”
This year’s popular “Apples for Education” Silent and Live Auctions offers a great opportunity for donors to showcase their products and services to the 550+ guests, and for both donors and guests to contribute to a great cause! For more information call (808) 875-2300 or email cari@medb.org.
The MEDB Ke Alahele Education Fund Benefit Dinner & Auction will begin at 4:30 pm, followed by Dinner and Live Auction at 6 pm. Please join us!
Leslie Wilkins, MEDB President & CEO
Jun 20, 2018 | Education, Innovation, Stemworks
Maui Economic Development Board’s (MEDB) Women in Technology Program (WIT) recently presented their 2nd Introduce a Girl to Astronomy Day (IGAD) for Maui girls, grades 7-8. For the past decade, MEDB and WIT have been at the forefront of providing cutting-edge STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) programs across the state to meet 21st century workforce demands. “IGAD stimulates girls’ interest in astronomy as a viable and exciting career choice that requires STEM education,” said WIT Project Manager Mapu Quitazol. “It’s important to expose our girls to endless STEM opportunities and build their confidence level to know they can achieve their dreams.”
Dr. J. D. Armstrong, Maui Technology Education and Outreach Specialist at University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy, agreed, “It is important to develop future leaders in our planning for Maui’s future. For example, during IGAD the students learned about the Faulkes Telescope North, a two-meter-aperture telescope that can be accessed over the internet by any students in Hawaii and globally for their science projects. Owned and operated by Las Cumbres Observatory, this unique worldwide network of robotic telescopes engages students in real science via their computers. They become active participants in a range of astronomical research projects, from observations of the solar system to distant stars and galaxies.”
Krystle Dunn, science teacher from Lahaina Intermediate, said, “I was impressed by the variety of information that students got to take in: astronomy, satellites, telescopes and hands-on activities with sensors. One of my students learned that being a part of the Air Force doesn’t always mean you have to be in combat–you can be involved through technology and other STEM fields. Many students made connections that might directly impact their future decisions.”
Jaycie Iha, Maui Waena Intermediate student, concluded, “I’m so grateful to MEDB and WIT for this chance to learn more about astronomy and engineering. IGAD was such an extraordinary and valuable experience. After visiting the observatories, I see there are opportunities for girls on Maui to reach for the stars!”
Seventy-five middle school girls from Maui County enjoyed learning about optics by touring the Maui Surveillance Space System facilities atop Haleakala.
Mapu Quitazol, MEDB WIT Program Director
Jun 6, 2018 | Education
Dr. Paul Schumacher, Principal Investigator in Astrodynamics for Space Situational Awareness, Air Force Research Laboratory in Maui, recently gave a talk at the Institute for Astronomy in Pukalani, about the future of the satellite catalog. In recent years, the increasing numbers of objects in space has made the job of monitoring them more challenging—and more essential. “Many persons do not know that the U.S. military carries on an extensive world-wide satellite tracking operation to maintain a complete inventory, or catalog, of all known man-made objects in orbit around the Earth,” Schumacher explained. “Besides its military applications, the satellite catalog serves a variety of commercial, civil and even diplomatic functions. At present, more than 20,000 objects are being tracked routinely.”
The launch of Sputnik in 1957 marked the beginning of the Space Age. It also marked the beginning of a space race that brought a remarkable rate of rocket launches. “This created a host of strategic challenges, including the need for space surveillance,” Schumacher noted. “These needs led to the establishment of a mission to maintain a catalog of all Earth-orbiting objects, active payloads, rocket bodies, and debris, along with detailed information about trajectory and point of origin. Tracking space objects promotes space flight safety, protection of the space environment and the peaceful use of space worldwide. We reduce the risk of collision by sharing information with Governmental and commercial satellite operators, U.S. allies and others.”
The growth of the satellite catalog will certainly trigger a greater number of collision-risk alerts. Proper response to these alerts will require greater confidence in predictions along with better decision-making. Certainly, the space pioneers never envisioned that the vast majority of orbiting objects would be debris, nor would they have envisioned that alerting satellite operators about potential collisions would be a full-time job. “Nevertheless, this is the environment in which satellites currently operate,” Schumacher concluded. “A robust catalog and space surveillance tracking network are the cornerstones for ensuring a safe operational environment in space.”
The future satellite catalog is a topic that Dr. Schumacher and others often discuss at MEDB’s annual Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference. Satellites are essential to the technology we use in our everyday lives.
Sandy Ryan, Maui Economic Development Board Program and Conference Director
May 30, 2018 | Community, Education
Founded on the values and priorities for Maui County’s future as articulated by Maui County’s residents through the Decisions Maui and Focus Maui Nui visioning processes, Ka Ipu Kukui Fellows is a year-long program dedicated to preparing community-nominated young leaders for the unique challenges and opportunities in Maui County. To date, over 100 accomplished professionals have graduated from the program. The current Fellows are a diverse cross-section of residents drawn from business, government, academia, and nonprofit organizations. Each month, the program offers halawai (meetings) focused on in-depth introductions to Maui County’s infrastructure and array of community leaders coupled with workshops to expand leadership skills.
Last December, Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) hosted Project Weekend, an intense, team-based experience in which the Fellows go hands-on to create a community project. “MEDB was thrilled to guide the Fellows as they navigated the many layers of project development. It was fun to see the concepts unfold as the Fellows gained a first-hand understanding of what it takes to turn their idea into a viable community-based project,” shared Amber Hardwick, Ka Ipu Kukui alumna and MEDB’s lead on Project Weekend.
“What I went through was so valuable because it allowed me to realize that even though I have these fears going into it, none of that came about because we had such a great team that we just persevered together and created something that was even more special than I originally thought we could do,” said Snehal Patel who came up with the idea for the winning project called ‘We The People’. “Moving forward we are going to see if we can proceed with our project as a pilot program.”
“I enjoyed the collaboration,” said Sayble Bissen. “We got to learn a lot about how our co-worker Fellows think and how they see Maui as a whole and what can be done to help.” Discussing the future of her team’s project called Literacy for Financial Education (L.I.F.E), Sayble added “Our plan is to hopefully to follow through with our project – I am pretty positive that it can happen.”
As this year’s cohort celebrates their May graduation, Ka Ipu Kukui is accepting applications for the 2018-19 program. Learn more at http://www.kikfellows.org/
I think that we all have such great ideas, and Project Weekend helped us to execute that into a real live MVP (Minimum Viable Project), which I never knew about before going through this process.
Snehal Patel
May 16, 2018 | Education, Innovation, Stemworks
The Maunakea Scholars program, launched in 2015, created an official partnership between the Hawai’i State Department of Education (DOE), the University of Hawai’i, and Maunakea Observatories. Designed to bring Hawai’i’s high school students into one of the world’s most advanced observatory communities, the program’s third group of student astronomers are working with 10 participating international telescopes. Contributing to an innovative STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) curriculum, the Maunakea Scholars provide amazing opportunities to the next generation.
The program pairs a professional astronomy mentor with students in each participating school to coach them through the process of interpreting astronomy data and crafting an original research application. The proposals are submitted to a time-allocation community for consideration, and projects are awarded highly valuable time on participating telescopes, based on the viability of the proposals.
“King Kekaulike is the first Maui school to participate in the Maunakea Scholars program,” said Emily Haines-Swatek, King Kekaulike High School MEDB STEMworks™ AFTERschool teacher. “STEMworks™ students submitted proposals to receive telescope time to conduct real research on an astronomical study of their choice. The Maunakea Scholars program partners with schools to provide observation time and summit tours. Twenty-two King Kekaulike students submitted proposals and seven students were granted telescope time during an awards ceremony on February 14th.” The King Kekaulike Maunakea Scholars and their projects are: Quinton Uradomo on Dark Matter; Janine Harris on Cepheid Magnitude Periods; Quentin Beamer on White Dwarf Formation Temperatures; Ryan Siarot and Thorren Rebiguo on Observing Asteroid Colors to Determine Composition; and Caroline Stevenson and Kayla Wholers on Deep into the Storm. The latter was awarded time on two telescopes, Las Cumbres and Canada-France-Hawai’i Telescope (CFHT).
Haines-Swatek became involved with the Maunakea Scholars after meeting with DOE and CFHT representatives at the 2017 Hawaii STEM Conference. “Because of the proximity to the Institute for Astronomy and the STEMworks™ electives taught at King Kekaulike, we make a perfect fit for the program,” she said. “The project stretched my student’s understanding of astronomy and pushed them to dream of something much larger than themselves. They are looking forward to conducting their research!”
Throughout the year, the Maunakea Scholars program supports each classroom with educational resources, including an integrated indigenous Hawaiian perspective on modern science education, led by ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai’i.
Emily Haines-Swatek, King Kekaulike High School, MEDB STEMworks™ AFTERschool Teacher
May 2, 2018 | Education, Innovation
Camry Gach, Seabury Hall 8th grader, is the winner of this year’s 59th Annual Maui County Regional Science & Engineering Fair’s First Place Grand Award – Junior Division; the 2018 Ricoh Sustainable Development Award; the 2018 Broadcom MASTERS; The Best in Energy – Physical Junior Division Award; the Alexander and Baldwin Merit Award – Junior Division; and the Naval Science Award.
“My science fair project, The Effect of Different Lenses and Lights on Solar Power, tested convex, concave, and flat glass at three different heights: 20, 30, and 50 centimeters away from a photovoltaic cell (mini solar panel) to see if they would increase the voltage of the focal point on the cell,” said Gach. “I became interested in this project because I have always been so amazed that energy can be produced from the sun without having to emit a by-product into the air. With such a phenomenal form of sustainable energy, I wanted to contribute to solar panel companies by increasing the voltage that a solar panel produces. I knew that lenses directed light, so I decided to experiment with them to see if that could increase solar voltage. The red light with the convex lens at 30cm from the cell had the highest voltage. The red light mostly had the best results, because it has longer wavelengths than the blue light, which made it travel to the lenses more efficiently.”
Gach’s vision for moving forward with this project is to test a giant convex lens that is bigger than the cell to see if that will increase the output of the whole photovoltaic cell and not just the focal point. “This may increase solar power, because the convex lens will collect light outside the perimeter of the cell and direct that light into the photovoltaic cell,” said Gach, who also would like to continue this experiment by testing with the sun as a light source to represent solar power more realistically. “I feel very excited to continue my project and contribute to solar research.”
I am also interested in testing a Fresnel lens because it uses many lenses and angles to concentrate light.
Camry Gach, Seabury Hall 8th grade
Apr 25, 2018 | Education, Small Business
Small businesses will learn pathways to success at the 2nd Annual Hawaii Small Business Conference (HSBC) on May 2-3, 2018 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului. The theme of this year’s event, “Plan, Build, Grow: Mapping A Pathway to Success”, provides resources via a network of experts along with hands-on skills necessary for businesses to accelerate growth.
The HSBC coincides with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s National Small Business Week, celebrating both America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners. Topics include customer service, business growth and scaling, social media management, innovation, tax strategies and more. Additionally, speed-networking with industry leaders will allow opportunity for questions and answers.
Gwen Woltz, co-founder of Wahine Media, is a leading social media strategist and one of the early voices in the social media revolution in Hawaii. Her keynote “Social Media Reality Check—Gone are the Days of Free” will help attendees envision their perfect world on social media and the most effective route to get there. “Being a small business owner from Hawaii myself, my hope is to inspire other business owners to approach social media with confidence and a plan,” Woltz said. “I think one of the biggest misperceptions about small businesses in Hawaii is that we are limited because we are on an island, or that we can’t compete with mainland businesses. I hope to show attendees that Hawaii small businesses are not limited but are empowered to do things a little differently. Hawaii small businesses have a unique advantage that no other small businesses have: a strong sense of place and community, a perfect formula to thrive on social media.”
Woltz will speak on Day 1 followed by a Panel in which she will lead a discussion with three Maui businesses who are leading the way with social media. On Day 2, she will present a workshop, “Maximizing Your Social Media Budget”.
Participants can attend the all-day conference on Wednesday, May 2 or any of the smaller group workshops on Thursday, May 3, or both. Various sponsorship opportunities are available. For information visit www.hawaiismallbusinessconference.com or call (808) 875-2300.
My social media clients are in a variety of industries. From budget to best practices, I help them embrace new ways to connect with their audience.
Gwen Woltz, Wahine Media
Apr 11, 2018 | Education, Small Business
Omar Sultan, co-founder of Sultan Ventures, Founding & Managing Partner of XLR8UH
The 2nd Annual Hawaii Small Business Conference (HSBC) at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on May 2 & 3, 2018, will provide business owners, entrepreneurs, and employees with an opportunity to expand their expertise in numerous industry-related subjects. Hosted by Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) and the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, the conference program Plan, Build, Grow: Mapping a Pathway to Success is an ideal opportunity for anyone interested in learning important strategies for business success.
“You’ll hear from successful national and local business leaders and owners, on customer service, business growth and scaling, social media management, innovative tax strategies and more while networking with the business community,” said Leslie Wilkins, President & CEO of MEDB.
Mayor Alan Arakawa added, “Small businesses dominate Hawaii’s economic landscape, making up over 90 percent of the business community and employing half of our state’s employees. By helping our local businesses navigate pathways for their success, we’re also helping to encourage ingenuity and profitability that ultimately impact our community and economy.”
First-day sessions will involve a combination of renowned specialists, plenary panels, and case studies on specific subjects. Karen McCullough, Generations Speaker, will provide the Opening Keynote and panel discussions on Customer and Employee Relationships.
Omar Sultan, co-founder of Sultan Ventures, Founding & Managing Partner of XLR8UH, will present a talk on Scaling Your Business, and will moderate a panel on Shaping a Game Plan for Growth. “Our firm helps visionary founders build successful, long-lasting businesses by supporting them at every stage of their journey,” said Sultan. Gwen Woltz, co-founder of Wahine Media, will discuss Social Media Reality Check: Gone Are the Days of “Free” and moderate a panel on Social Media Maui Style. “I can help attendees envision their perfect social media world and then map the quickest and most affordable route to get there.”
The second day consists of workshops diving deeper into some of the subjects presented on the first day, including a workshop on Tax Strategies for Small Businesses presented by Robert Kawahara, CPA, Managing Member, Kawahara + Hu, LLC.
During the HSBC we will explain the importance of pivotal resources via a network of experts and investors and the hands-on expertise necessary to accelerate growth.
Omar Sultan: Co-founder, Sultan Ventures; Founding & Managing Partner, XLR8UH
To register online, visit www.HawaiiSmall.Biz or call (808) 875-2300.
