Society of Native Hawaiian Engineers Summit
Campus Center Ballroom, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
Mānoa, Honolulu, HI
August 10, 2018
Michael Chun, former president of Kamehameha Schools, was featured as the keynote speaker for the August 10th Society of Native Hawaiian Engineers (SNHE) summit, which served as the society’s first conference. Dr. Chun holds a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Kansas, a Master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Hawai‘i, and earned his Doctorate in environmental health engineering from the University of Kansas. “The profession of engineering prepares you with wisdom and provides you with skill sets that you need not only in terms of analytical and reasoning but also in terms of communication,” said Dr. Chun. He encouraged the attendees in saying, “You have to celebrate your richness and the brilliance of our culture… when you walk into the board room, don’t ever leave your Hawaiian identity at the door. You take it in with you.” In closing his impassioned keynote, he shared the following thoughts, “[Come] with your Hawaiian identity. We gotta make sure we have a healthy lāhui because if the Hawaiian condition is vibrant and healthy it benefits everybody. And you as engineers, you as people who build and design and create things that impact our daily lives…you are the guys we need to have our voices as a part of the larger lāhui, so that we have a say in shaping our future. This is a wonderful opportunity for all of you to get engaged and get out there with your colleagues, your classmates, others in the community, your uncles and your aunties and start to pull them together so that they can join all of you on this journey.”
Oceana Francis, principal investigator, and Scott Miller and Thanh Trúc T. Nguyễn, co-principal investigators, served as leads for the National Science Foundation project “Broadening Participation of Native Hawaiians for Engineering Faculty Careers,” during 2015-2018, from which SNHE has emerged. Ku‘ulei Serna led a‘o in engineering workshops during the NSF grant period of 2015-2018.
Left to right: Thanh Trúc T. Nguyễn, Ku‘ulei Serna, Michael Chun, Oceana Francis, and Scott Miller at the first SNHE event held on August 10, 2018.
Participants at the first SNHE event held of August 10, 2018 at the University of Hawai’i Mānoa Campus Ballroom.