www.imuatmt.org www.maunakeaandtmt.org
Abstract: Within the island communities there is a focus on “keeping Hawaii Hawaiian” and maintaining a strong community of locals who are born and raised in Hawaii and whose families have lived on the islands for generations. Despite this, many locals are leaving Hawaii because of the lack of affordable housing and high paying jobs to financially support a comfortable lifestyle there. Contributing to this issue is the fact that Hawaii has a limited quantity and variety of high-paying STEM careers, many of which are fulfilled by foreigners instead of locals. This highlights the importance and need for STEM community outreach programs and educational initiatives. Such exposure helps young students to nurture the skills necessary to pursue careers that will allow them to fill tech-based jobs and subsequently advance technology opportunities and availability in Hawaii. As someone from the Big Island, I was exposed to STEM outreach programs that helped bolster my interest in engineering and led to my career as a Mechanical Engineer for the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope. One project in particular that helped advance my career is the Akamai Workforce Initiative, whose goal is to provide STEM internships for Hawaii students. Participating in the program enabled me to network with students either from Hawaii or based in Hawaii, and now has provided me the opportunity to be a mentor of the program. The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) has enabled programs such as Akamai to expand and help even more students throughout the years. I firmly believe that programs like these will forever benefit Hawaii residents and allow other STEM opportunities to grow and flourish as locals have an innate desire to stay in Hawaii, as opposed to most foreigners. I am fortunate to have benefitted from such initiatives and hope that TMT can continue to fund STEM outreach programs in Hawaii while setting a precedent for other projects wishing to come to Hawaii.
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