Oceanit’s staffers ended 2016 on a strong note with big advancements and a positive outlook.
Oceanit’s staffers ended 2016 on a strong note with big advancements and a positive outlook. The Oceanit ‘ohana (family) continues to celebrate our founder and CEO Dr. Patrick K. Sullivan being named Hawaii Business Magazine’s CEO of the Year and Ian Kitajima’s appointment to the State of Hawai‘i’s Workforce Development Council.
In 2016…
Oceanit participated in numerous student events related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Staffers
- Judged middle and high school science fair projects at the Hawai‘i State Science and Engineering Fair, as well as divisional and local school fairs.
- Judged robot designs at the Hawai‘i FIRST LEGO League State Championship.
- Participated in the Girl Scouts of Hawai‘i STEM Fest Oahu 2016.
- Participated in Blue Planet’s 2nd Annual Student Energy Summit.
- Provided hands-on science activities at the Lacy Veach Day of Discovery at Punahou School.
- Hosted a Job Shadow Day for the Sustainable Hawai‘i Youth Leadership Initiative.
- Mentored Waipahu and McKinley high school honors students in STEM.
- Spoke to the student chapter on advanced technologies at The University of Western Australia.
- Participated in the Aloha United Way School Supplies Drive.
The attendance at each event has provided a mutual relationship of support and inspiration, whether it’s to see bright students compete, discuss career paths, or simply carry a friendly conversation in their field of interest. The Oceanit team uses this opportunity to encourage students to stay excited in these industries by imparting as much information and advice to help kids become successful and achieve their dreams.
- Participated in several beach cleanups.
- Led discussions on air pollution at the World Health Organization conference.
- Participated in American Lung Association in Hawai‘i Lung Force Walk.
- Conducted an employee holiday craft and bake fair for the Oral Cancer Foundation.
- Adopted two families during the Helping Hands Hawai‘i “Adopt A Family” fund drive.
These local events help bring communities together, building relationships with others, while gaining understanding of the global crisis, keeping a constant reminder of the work that needs to be done.
Lastly, Oceanit continued to amplify the community conversation on innovation with applications of Design Thinking across Hawai’i schools and programs, conducting a multitude of workshops with
- 6th Annual Design Thinking Hawai‘i Summer Bootcamp
- IUCN World Conservation Congress Youth Challenge 2020
- Boy Scouts of America STEM program
- Hokupa‘a
- Hawai‘i executives and business leaders
- Adult Friends for Youth and the Hawai‘i State Department of Education
- Hawai‘i State Department of Education’s Leadership Academy
- Pacific & Asian Affairs Council Global Vision Summit: Homelessness and Design Thinking
The process to learn and practice Design Thinking has proven to be extremely effective in increasing awareness in innovation and enabling companies to become more solution-centric, rather problem-centric, to pave a path to the bigger picture, providing improved solutions to a host of companies, state and federal agencies, and schools. Outside of the workforce, Design Thinking is an applicable methodology for an array of real-life situations, encouraging out-of-the-box thinking for people wanting to improve their problem solving skillset.
Looking forward to 2017, Oceanit hopes to continue our participation in the community and expand upon new ones. If you are interested in having us be a part of your next community event, please complete our Contact Us form. Mahalo for a successful year!
