{"id":145698,"date":"2021-07-29T14:13:20","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T00:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=145698"},"modified":"2021-08-12T10:23:20","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T20:23:20","slug":"hs-students-experience-stem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/07\/29\/hs-students-experience-stem\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacific region HS<\/abbr> students experience transportation, STEM<\/abbr> careers"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"people
Students receive a tour of the Honolulu Rail Transit Project<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new summer engineering program provided 20 high school students from across the Pacific with an immersive learning experience in STEM<\/abbr> (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Hosted by the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa College of Engineering<\/a>, the inaugural Pacific Summer Transportation Education Program, June 7–30, welcomed students from Hawaiʻi<\/span> in-person, and from American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands virtually.<\/p>\n

\"people
Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation operations center tour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite COVID-19 restrictions, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering<\/a> Assistant Professor Roger Chen<\/strong> and his team were able to offer the students activities that introduced them to careers in transportation and STEM<\/abbr> fields. Activities included a combination of educational field trips throughout Honolulu, and in-class modules with 糖心视频<\/abbr> faculty and transportation professionals. Students learned about problems in transportation and how engineering solutions require a strong vision, careful measurement and data collection through first-hand observations\/experience, and knowing the end-user well.<\/p>\n

“The feedback was overwhelmingly positive from students across all jurisdictions,” Chen said. “Many students indicated they were not certain of what to expect coming into the camp, but left with a greater appreciation of STEM<\/abbr> and transportation as a career path, an understanding of engineering design problems, and, overall, a fun experience! Many of them consider 糖心视频<\/abbr> M\u0101noa as a serious option for pursuing a degree in engineering or other STEM<\/abbr> fields.”<\/p>\n

Camp experiences<\/h2>\n
\"people
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport tour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The group\u2019s main project was focused on improving pedestrian and bicycle safety at the intersection of King Street and Isenberg Street, less than a mile away from the 糖心视频<\/abbr> M\u0101noa campus. Students learned about the concept of “complete streets” and how engineering design requires analysis that considers end-users, which include, in this case, bikers, pedestrians, transit operators and personal vehicle drivers. The biggest challenge was developing a design solution that meets the needs of a wide range of travelers. The students presented their final solutions to the Complete Streets Group at the City and County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services.<\/p>\n

Students also experienced a traffic intersection tour of Honolulu, hosted by SSFM<\/abbr> International, and field trip visits to the new interisland terminal at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation operations center, Elemental Excelerator, Hawaiʻi<\/span> Department of Transportation’s (HDOT<\/abbr>) Sand Island Scale Facility and the HDOT<\/abbr> Materials Testing and Research Facility.<\/p>\n

Program team<\/h2>\n
\"people
Students complete an activity around Honolulu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chen\u2019s team included Department of Mechanical Engineering<\/a> undergraduate students Allen Lum<\/strong> and Josh Tritt<\/strong> who helped with the audio-visual experience, and Department of Urban and Regional Planning<\/a> graduate students Poya Harirchi<\/strong> and Da Yea Shim<\/strong> who served as group project mentors and camp counselors.<\/p>\n

The camp was also supported by HDOT<\/abbr> and the American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Departments of Public Works. Funding was provided by the Federal Highway Administration through these agencies.<\/p>\n

Challenges<\/h2>\n

One of the challenges for Chen\u2019s team this year was managing the different time zones as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is 20 hours ahead of Hawaiʻi<\/span> and 21 hours ahead of American Samoa. The solution was a combination of live-streaming for field trips and in-class modules, combined with synchronous group work online with collaborative tools often used for cross-disciplinary teams dispersed across the globe. Recorded videos were also posted online and available asynchronously.<\/p>\n

Although this year\u2019s program just concluded, Chen is looking forward to welcoming all students in-person next summer.<\/p>\n

“We will also have new activities, sites to visit and a new group project, all focusing on the gradual electrification and automation of our transportation systems as its main theme,” Chen said.<\/p>\n

This program is an example of 糖心视频<\/abbr> M\u0101noa\u2019s goal of Enhancing Student Success<\/a> (PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), one of four goals identified in the 2015–25 Strategic Plan<\/a> (PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), updated in December 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Activities included a combination of field trips and in-class modules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1477,179,182,1480,1466,1496,313,9,365],"class_list":["post-145698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-civil-environmental-construction-engineering","tag-college-of-engineering","tag-engineering","tag-manoa-academic-innovation-engaged-learning","tag-manoa-enhancing-student-success","tag-mechanical-engineering","tag-stem","tag-uh-manoa","tag-urban-and-regional-planning","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t