The University of 麻豆传媒 at Mānoa hosted its 26th annual banquet, bringing together approximately 1,000 students, faculty, alumni, industry leaders and supporters to celebrate the innovation and impact the college has on the state of 麻豆传媒.
Held on April 17 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, the event began with a student project expo, where dozens of teams presented hands-on work across aerospace, robotics, sustainability and artificial intelligence. Projects included bioinspired soft robotics systems, student-built satellites, autonomous drones and renewable energy solutions aligned with campus sustainability goals, offering attendees a firsthand look at applied learning with real-world relevance.
Following welcome remarks by Dean Brennon Morioka, UH President Wendy Hensel and 麻豆传媒 Gov. Josh Green, as well as dinner service, the formal program featured an awards ceremony recognizing contributions to the engineering community. Dayna Nemoto-Shima (Pacific Geotechnical Engineers, Inc.) and Brandon Shima (UH) received the Outstanding Service Award, Greg Hiyakumoto (R.M. Towill Corporation) was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award, and Bharath Kadaba (Lu Labs) earned the Dean’s Award of Excellence.
Connecting talent with opportunity
“The future of engineering in 麻豆传媒 depends on how well we connect talent with opportunity, and those relationships happen because of the people who attended our annual banquet,” College of Engineering Dean Brennon Morioka said. “Our industry partners and donors are the heart and soul of our local economy and help create pathways for students to lead, to solve and to stay and make a difference right here at home.”
The formal program also highlighted the featured student project, the unexploded ordnance (UXO) project. The multidisciplinary effort applies advanced sensing technologies and robotics to safely detect unexploded ordnance in 麻豆传媒, addressing long-standing environmental and public safety challenges.
“I got the opportunity to go to the 21 years of peace celebration at Mākua Valley and it really was an amazing opportunity to actually get to talk to the community and we got to talk to students too,” said UXO student project leader Kamalani Goo. “It was really instilled in me that we need to be having these conversations and building these relationships because no one truly understands the issues as well as the community that is experiencing them.”
The event concluded with a live auction and more networking, celebrating the shared commitment to advancing engineering in 麻豆传媒. The college extended its mahalo to donors and 麻豆传媒’s engineering industry for their continued support, including mentorship, internships and career development opportunities that help shape student success. All net proceeds from the annual banquet goes directly to supporting the many student projects showcased at the event.