A Virtual Pop-Up Session for K-12 Educators and STEM Collaborators – Supercharge your project-based learning and research-inspired projects

This pop-up session was held on Saturday, February 25, 2023.

• Hear stories and practical examples of how mentorship, failure, and resilience enhance paths towards success for every student.
• Learn how student skills developed through PBL and design projects contribute importantly to personal and academic growth.
• Boost the success of your classroom projects by integrating student mentoring and other proven techniques.

The speakers for this session were:

• Dr. Aaron T. Ohta, Professor of Electrical Engineering at UHM College of Engineering, principal investigator for the University of Hawai‘i Microdevices & Microfluidics Lab, and director of the University of Hawai‘i Vertically Integrated Program (VIP Program). The VIP program is one of 30 institutions world-wide, led by Georgia Institute of Technology, which fosters long-term, in-depth, project-based learning to engage students and better prepare students for future careers.
• Jill Nakatsu, Director of Academic Affairs at UHM College of Engineering. As Director, Jill advises and mentors undergraduate students. She was the recipient of the UHM Outstanding Academic Advisor (Pakela) Award. Jill has trained scores of teachers in the engineering design process. Her areas of research and expertise include engineering education, genetic programming, and remote sensing.
• Deborah Higa, a Mechanical Engineering student at UHM College of Engineering. This Castle High School graduate has been a STEM Pre-Academy Engineering Intern since 2019. Deborah is Project Manager for the Team RoSE (a part of the Robotic Space Exploration Lab (RoSE) at the Hawai‘i Space Flight Lab). As part of STEM Pre-Academy, she is on the team that designed and built the mobile growing cart for K-12 student investigations.