With a strong math and science program, Kapi’olani Community College is looking to reach out to the Native Hawaiian community with its latest grant geared to pre-engineering students.
Through the National Science Foundation (NSF), KCC was awarded with Hawai‘i’s Pre-Engineering Education Collaboration (PEEC) Award, which allowed KCC to develop a pre-engineering pathway in the community colleges. Thus, the Indigenous Knowledge in Engineering (‘IKE) was created.
Aurora Kagawa, ‘IKE recruitment and outreach specialist, was hired in September to take charge of the project, however, it is a collaboration with KCC, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and four UH community colleges: Honolulu Community College, UH Maui College, Leeward Community College, Windward Community College.
One of Kagawa’s duties is to connect with the other coordinators and implement the grant, as well as to support KCC’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) program as a whole.
Charles Sasaki, dean of arts and sciences, assisted in hiring Kagawa. He said the grant will be able to reach students across the state.
“The ‘IKE grant raises the visibility of KCC in the engineering community,” he said in an email. “This is a program that will benefit a lot of students from throughout the state, but because it’s headquartered here, could also really benefit KCC students too.”
In ‘IKE, students join cohorts and experience three years of intensive math courses and engineering-focused activities during the summers.
Kagawa said students enter the program before starting their first year at KCC. As incoming freshmen, students complete their Summer Engineering Experiences 1 (SEE1) at KCC. In SEE2 and SEE3, students attend UH Maui College and UH Mānoa, respectively, to ease the transition into a four-year university.
“It (engineering) can be intense,” she said. “The idea is to work together.”
‘IKE also features a math emporium model and distance learning courses.
In addition, Kagawa said students in ‘IKE will have access to many resources.
“People at KCC are really interested in students,” she said. “Through the ‘IKE program, we can nurture students who not only have the technical background, but an awareness of Hawai‘i and its values,” Kagawa said.
According to Louise Pagotto, vice chancellor and ‘IKE co-principal investigator, UH Mānoa’s College of Engineering has accepted 117 transfer students since 2006, including 50 from KCC.
“We have a strong pre-engineering program,” Pagotto said. “(‘IKE) fits us perfectly.”
KCC is a national leader in STEM education, Sasaki said.
“It’s one (of) the ways that we show the world our excellent transfer programs,” he said. “It’s great to think that … our school here in Kaimuki is a national leader in STEM. When I go to Washington, D.C. for meetings, people are always so impressed when they hear that I’m from Kapi‘olani.”
Sasaki also said that Kagawa is “a leader in the STEM community and came strongly recommended by the science community here in Hawai‘i.”
Kagawa, whose background is environmental engineering, said Hawai‘i needs engineers who will continue to push for sustainability.
“It’s not about crunching numbers in a cubicle for someone else (like a big business),” she said. “It takes engineering thinking, teamwork and problem-solving. Through (innovative thinking), we can come up with solutions on how we sustain ourselves.”
“It’s not about the bank,” she said. “It’s about tackling challenging problems.”
For students interested in joining STEM or to find out more information on ‘IKE, visit Kagawa in ‘Ōhia 103.