UH CoE - 2009 Summer Bridge Program

The Summer Bridge Program is a seven-week, paid, residential summer experience for new UH Manoa freshman students interested in applied sciences, civil, environmental, mechanical, or electrical engineering.  Students participate in Math and Hawaiian Studies courses for credit, acquire knowledge and hands-on experience through research and company internships, and participate in various community projects that help link science and engineering with the Hawaiian community.

The official listing of all the internships and students participating in the 2009 Summer Bridge Program is included below. Each internship page links to students' online journals, and highlights some of their exciting work and play experiences throughout the summer program.

Official Internship List:
1. Biomass and Fuels Processing Laboratory
2. Environet, Inc.
3. The Green Machine
4. Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company, Inc.
5. Pacific CEED (Mililani, K.K.V)
6. Small-Satellite Program (Kumu A’o, Kukui Aerospace Program)
7. Small-Satellite Program (Nanosat-6)
8. Solar Charging Station
9. Tropical Landscape and Human Interaction Lab
  

1. Biomass and Fuels Processing Laboratory
SIP Journal Link: http://sip-hawaii.org/node/951
Organization: University of Hawaii at Manoa
Department: Hawaii Natural Energy Institute
Laboratory: Biomass and Fuels Processing Laboratory
Student Intern: Dana Johnson
Supervisor: N/A
External Website: www.hnei.hawaii.edu/epandclab.asp
Internship Description:
UHM Biomass Gasifier (Backpulse System Development)

2. Environet, Inc.
SIP Journal Link: http://sip-hawaii.org/node/948
Company: Environet, Inc.
Student Intern: Daniel Kahoonei
Supervisor: N/A
External Website: www.environetinc.com/
Internship Description:
Environet is an environmental engineering and consulting firm, specializing in risk avoidance, waste remediation, and regulatory compliance. Their mission is to provide these services in an efficient and cost-effective manner, while seeking cutting-edge solutions to environmental problems.

3. The Green Machine
SIP Journal Link: http://sip-hawaii.org/node/971
Company/Organization: Partners in Development Foundation
Program: The Green Machine
Student Intern: Melia Iwamoto
Supervisor: Mollie C.
Project Manager: Chad Middleton Durkin
External Website: http://www.pidfoundation.org/programs/green_machine/about
Internship Description:
The Green Machine is located in Makiki Heights, right by the Hawaii Nature Center.  It is a copycat of a wetland in which it takes sewage water from the Hawaii Nature Center and allows fish, plants, shrimp, and surface area  to get rid of all the bad stuff in the water.  After a full cycle through the 6 tanks of the ecosystem, the water is allowed to drip into a final tank where it is stored until pumped to a small grass field near the area. Our job, as interns, is to test the quality of the water as it travels through the green machine.  For the past couple of weeks, we have been doing pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Temperature, Enterolert, Colilert, Ammonia, Phosphorous, and Nitrate tests on the water.  Recently, we have decided to try two experiments on the green machine that may or may not be successful or beneficial to the water.  We are going to pump some of the end water, which is full of Nitrates, and send it back through the system, more specifically the denitrification process, and see if the Nitrate count goes lower.   We are also planning on adding more surface area in the first tank so that more bacteria can latch on to it.

4. Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company, Inc.
SIP Journal Link: http://sip-hawaii.org/node/949
Company: Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company, Inc.
Division: Heavy
Project: HECO Power Generating Station 4
Student Intern: Garrick J.K. Militante
Supervisor: Chad Uyehara
Project Engineer: Eric Arakawa
Cost Engineers: Edean Kitamura, Devlynn Takahashi
External Website: www.hdcc.com/
Other Contact Information:
      Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company, Inc.
      P.O. Box 4088, Honolulu, HI 96812-4088
      201 Merchant Street, Honolulu, HI 96813
      Phone: (808) 735-3211
      Fax: (808) 735-7416
Internship Description:
The HECO power generating station number four is located in Campbell Industrial Park at 91-196 Hanua Street next to H-Power. Once operational, this generating station will be the forth and newest one on the island of O’ahu. The purpose of this new power generating station is pretty self explanatory, it is to provide power to communities and relieve the strain of demand, caused by housing development and increasing technology, from the other three power plants on the island. My job, as an intern, is to keep track of the costs of the job through invoicing, keep track of materials needed to perform the job and ordering parts as necessary, update the plan book as change orders seem to come in daily, perform crew inspections, which means to check on the progress each crew of the heavy division has made throughout the day and any other instructions directed to me from my superiors. The project is expected to be completed in November of this year. The dedication ceremony has also been set for November.

5. Pacific CEED (Mililani, K.K.V)
SIP Journal Link: http://www.sip-hawaii.org/node/950
Organization: University of Hawaii at Manoa
Department: John A. Burns School of Medicine
Program: Pacific Center of Excellence in the Elimination of Disparities (CEED), Mililani and Kokua Kalihi Valley
Student Interns: Leighton Hao (major: Chemistry), Courtney Sakamoto (major: Biology, Hawaiian Studies)
Supervisor: Dr. Lee Ellen Buenoconsejo-Lum
External Website: www.pacificcancer.org/
Internship Description:
Our internship begins with a journey to a small family clinic in Mililani. In Mililani we shadowed residence doctors ranging from beginning first years to third year residents. In order to become a doctor in Family Medicine, post medical school, one must commit three years of service to the location desired. The students we shadowed were part of the University of Hawaii Medical Residency Program. Along with shadowing, we observed the structure of the clinical setting.
 
As we continued our journey to learn more about the medical field we visited a community health clinic called Kokua Kalihi Valley (K.K.V). K.K.V serves people who live and have lived in the area of Kalihi. The service provides a range from a kids reading room, W.I.C, and counseling to general medical practices. K.K.V believes in community outreach because their goal is to get the community healthy. Different types of community outreach that K.K.V provides is K-vibe, which is a place for kids to hang out after school and during the summer building/rebuilding broken bikes, Geriatrics activities consisting of aerobics and other activities, and also community gardens located at Kohio Park Terrace and also deeper in the valley called Ho’oulu ‘Aina.

The last part of our journey leads us to Pacific CEED. Pacific CEED is a cancer research based program that focuses on islands in the pacific. At Pacific CEED we conduct research and compile resource documents for the Pacific CEED website. This website is to inform the community about cancer in the pacific. Pacific CEED partners with others in the Pacific to work on controlling cancer and its risk factors.
From our internship, we attained the whole spectrum of the medical field from research to patient care and community outreach.

Both students want to incorporate other method either if it’s cultural or modern to our medical practices. Our goal in this internship is to learn as much as we can about the medical field and maybe get a direction we would like to take in our future.

6. Small-Satellite Program (Kumu A’o, Kukui Aerospace Program)
SIP Journal Link: http://sip-hawaii.org/node/946
Organization: University of Hawaii at Manoa
Department: College of Engineering
Program: Kumu A'o CubeSat Program
Student Interns: Chris Ahuna, Malu Chang, Amanda Kamakea
Supervisors: Jeremy Chan (Kumu A'o), Lloyd French (Kukui)
Mentors: Amy Blas, Zachary Lee-Ho, Reid Yamura, Jordan Torres
External Website: N/A
Internship Description:
The Kumu A'o CubeSat team consist of undergraduates and graduates who are currently finalizing fabrication on the small satellite.  The satellite is to have its expected launch in approximately two years.  The University of Hawaii's Small-Satellite Program was founded in order to establish high-technology research and workforce-development infrastructure within the State of Hawaii.  The program assists undergraduate students to gain experience in real-world engineering projects.  Various experiemental payloads include thermal sensor units and thermal modeling software, geo-referenced imaging, solid-storage microthrusters, and retrodirerctive antenna array technologies.

UH Manoa's small-satellite program began in 2002 with Mea Huaka'i, a standard 1-kg, 10x10x10 cm CubeSat.  This CubeSat failed to reach orbit; it carried a UH-designed thermal modeling software.  Hokulua, the second CubeSat was developed to test retrodirective antenna array technologies in space. Ho'okele had geo-referenced imaging capabilities, which was able to detect terrestrial-based natural disasters. Ho'okia'i was a combination of the previous three satellites: satellite system bus design experience, retrodirective antennas, and distributed networking concepts.  In addition to these, Ho'okia'i researched microthruster technologies for active stabilization.

Over 150 engineering undergraduates have gone through the small-satellite program.  Our experiences at the Kumu A'o internship has been but a glimpse at the future of satellites.  On a daily basis we spend a portion of time researching about the various systems on satellites.  It is important to know background information on satellites in order to design a satellite, however at Kumu A'o the team looks to improve on existing designs, creating a unique and overall better small-satellite.  We also learned about proper soldering techniques and familiarized ourselves with the various computer programs including: Satellite Tool Kit (STK), PCB Artist, and SolidWorks.  We researched on a few satellites currently orbiting the earth, calculated the line-of-sight time frame, and used the satellite ground station to track and communicate with these satellites.

Kukui Aerospace Program (KAP) is conducted by Dr. Lloyd French, an aerospace engineer who spent approximately 15-20 years as an employee to the NASA JPL division.  Every Wednesday and Thursdays, Chris, Amanda, and I join Zach Lee-Ho, Reid Yamura, and Jordan Torres for an intense lecture concerning academic skillsets, problem solving, and technical communication.  From compiling our academic team to composing well-written business letters, we acquire the necessary academic skills to become successful engineering undergraduates.

7. Small-Satellite Program (Nanosat-6)
SIP Journal Link: http://sip-hawaii.org/node/975
Organization: University of Hawaii at Manoa
Department: College of Engineering
Program: Small-Satellite Program
Project: Nanosat-6
Student Intern: Joshua Javier
Supervisors: Shantel Hunt, Jason Axelson, Amber Imai
External Website: N/A
Internship Description:
The University of Hawaii Nanosat-6 Program is a 2-year project in collaboration with the Air Force. The project itself is of a classified nature and as such specific details are not allowed to be released. However the history of the subject shall suffice for what ensues in this challenging project. Satellites are objects orbiting a celestial body. A nanosatellite is a small satellite that weighs anywhere from 1 to 10 kg. Many governments choose to use nanosats for the sake of the fact that it is easier and cheaper to build and is a harder target for foreign countries to locate in terms of defense. Nanosatellites can be used in a variety of ways, from communication to GPS. The University of Hawaii’s small satellite lab has launched nanosatellites and cube-satellites over the past several years, starting in 2003 with Mea Huaka`i, which means the voyager and going on throughout the years with Hokulua (the Twin Stars), Ho`okele (Way Finder), Ho`okia`i (Watchman), and Kumu a`o (Source of Learning). These forerunners are the foundation for the project at hand.

8. Solar Charging Station
SIP Journal Link: http://www.sip-hawaii.org/node/974
Company/Organization: University of Hawaii at Manoa
Department: College of Engineering
Project: Solar Charging Station
Student Interns: Kekoa Roback, Kyle Wong, Robert Grimmett
Supervisor: Mehrdad Ghasemi Nejhad
Mentor: Mike Menendez
External Website: N/A
Internship Description:
We are building a solar charging station to recharge an electric vehicle built by our mentor mike.  When finished there will be a standalone system that doesn’t need to tap into the power grid to charge the electric car, thereby eliminating our need for fossil fuel powered energy sources. The solar charging station has been designed to be functional. The base structure can be used as a bench while you sit under the shade of three 5 foot by 3 foot solar panels and charge your portable electric devices by plugging into the installed electrical outlet. We are still in the beginning stages of fabrication so far assembling the base structure and the center support tower.

9. Tropical Landscape and Human Interaction Lab
SIP Journal Link: http://sip-hawaii.org/node/979
Organization: University of Hawaii at Manoa
Department: College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources
Laboratory: Tropical Landscape and Human Interaction Lab
Student Intern: Aliah Irvine
Supervisor: Dr. Andy Kaufman
External Website: www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/kaufmana/
Internship Description: N/A