Honolulu, HI, September 14, 2024 | The Hawai’i Book & Music Festival (HBMF) was fully back in-person, for the first time since the pandemic, and Oceanit was honored to be a sponsor once again in 2024. Oceanit has been a presenting sponsor of HBMF’s Innovation Panel since 2021. This year, Oceanit founder and CEO, Dr. Patrick K. Sullivan, and senior scientists, Dr. Tarah Suiter and Dr. Jeffrey Watumull, joined the event to showcase how Oceanit’s innovations are “delivering the future” in Hawai’i and beyond.
In partnership with the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, HBMF is a free event dedicated in exploring the art and science of Hawaii. Each year, local publishers, booksellers, non-profit leaders, and attendees come together to celebrate the rich diversity of books, arts, music and ideas of Hawai’i, while focusing on the future of the state through programs on sustainability, wellness, innovation, and Hawaiian culture.
Recognizing Oceanit as a driver of innovation in Hawai’i, HBMF invited three Oceanit speakers to participate this year. Dr. Sullivan presented “Hydrogen: The Future is Now,” where he discussed how Oceanit’s technology leverages directed energy and AI to produce hydrogen from seawater without pre-treatment. This breakthrough reduces costs to under $1 per kilogram and accelerates global market adoption. Dr. Sullivan also emphasized how hydrogen technology could fundamentally reshape energy markets and Hawaii’s leadership in the clean energy sector.
Dr. Tarah Suiter followed with her presentation, “Made in Hawai’i,” discussing how biomimetics and advanced manufacturing are transforming waste materials, such as chicken feathers, into high-performance fabrics that offer sustainable solutions for global markets. She highlighted the environmental benefits of this innovation, including reducing waste and carbon emissions, while also demonstrating how these methods could influence the broader manufacturing landscape beyond Hawaii.
Dr. Jeffrey Watumull concluded with “Cinematic Intelligence,” a captivating discussion on how art, like Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, can possess its own form of intelligence, engaging viewers in a dialogue as though the work itself is a thinking entity. He expanded on the intersection of creativity and artificial intelligence, illustrating how art can reveal deeper truths about cognition and the relationship between mind and matter.
Oceanit had previously participated in the 2022 and 2021 HBMF Innovation Panels, held virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In both events, multiple Oceanit employees presented on disruptive innovations.
Through events like the Hawaii Book and Music Festival, Oceanit continues to inspire future innovators and demonstrate the power of cutting-edge technology to solve global challenges. By fostering creativity and collaboration through discussions at UH Mānoa, Oceanit hopes to deliver the innovation of the future to students and the community here in Hawai’i, driving a more sustainable and prosperous future.
Read more about HBMF 2024 on the University of Hawai’i News: Hawaii Book & Music Festival 2024
