{"id":236068,"date":"2026-06-15T14:57:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T00:57:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=236068"},"modified":"2026-06-15T14:57:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T00:57:44","slug":"computer-science-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/06\/15\/computer-science-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Computer science students tackle real-world challenges through industry partnerships"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

\"people<\/p>\n

University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa<\/span> Department of Information and Computer Sciences<\/a> (ICS<\/abbr>) students showcased innovative solutions to real-world challenges during their Spring 2026 Capstone Project Day in May 2026.<\/p>\n

The event featured poster presentations and demonstrations from undergraduate and graduate students who spent the semester collaborating with government agencies, private industry, nonprofit organizations and UH<\/abbr> departments on projects designed to address practical needs across Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> and beyond.<\/p>\n

\"people<\/p>\n

Projects ranged from integrating artificial intelligence (AI<\/abbr>) tools for legislative operations and developing cybersecurity training platforms for critical infrastructure systems to creating immersive educational experiences, analyzing environmental and fisheries data, tracking coffee provenance through blockchain technology and applying AI<\/abbr> to agricultural research.<\/p>\n

Capstone teams partnered with organizations including the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> State House of Representatives, Department of Defense, MITRE, Business Solution Technologies, Pacific Economics, Kahuku Apps, Blockchain in Paradise and the Waikīkī<\/span> Aquarium. Additional collaborations involved UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span>\u2019s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, Shidler College of Business, College of Engineering and College of Natural Sciences.<\/p>\n

“Technology evolves quickly, but curiosity, creativity and collaboration remain essential skills,” said ICS<\/abbr> Department Chair Guylaine Poisson. “These projects give students an opportunity to explore emerging technologies while developing the judgment and leadership abilities that will help them make meaningful contributions throughout their careers.”<\/p>\n

Classroom knowledge, professional workplaces<\/h2>\n

\"person<\/p>\n

The capstone program<\/a> gives students opportunities to work directly with clients, define project requirements, develop software solutions and present their results to stakeholders. The experience mirrors professional workplace environments while allowing students to apply classroom knowledge to meaningful community, industry and government challenges.<\/p>\n

Project Day also featured presentations from the Naval Information Warfare Center internship program at Kapiʻolani<\/span> Community College and video games developed by students in the department\u2019s Video Game Design courses.<\/p>\n

The capstone program continues to serve as a bridge between the university and industry partners, providing organizations with innovative solutions while helping students build technical, communication and project management skills through hands-on experience.<\/p>\n

The Department of Information and Computer Sciences is housed in UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> College of Natural Sciences<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students collaborated with government and private industry to tackle practical local challenges using AI<\/abbr>, blockchain, cybersecurity and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":236070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1602,179,308,212,541,484,63,1466,568,146,9],"class_list":["post-236068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-ai","tag-college-of-engineering","tag-college-of-natural-sciences","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-computer-science","tag-information-and-computer-science","tag-kapiolani-community-college","tag-manoa-enhancing-student-success","tag-natural-science","tag-shidler-college-of-business","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/manoa-ics-capstone-day-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236068"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":236078,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236068\/revisions\/236078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}