Honolulu, HI July 31, 2023 | The Oceanit 2023 summer interns, a group of five bright and talented undergraduate and graduate students, took their passion for giving back to the community to a whole new level this year. The interns orchestrated a silent auction fundraiser to support the Kapiolani Health Foundation and the Kapiolani Women’s & Children’s Cancer Center on Oahu. Through their hard work and creativity, they raised over $1200 in just one week through the silent auction and cash donations.
As part of each year’s summer internship program, Oceanit encourages its interns to engage in philanthropic endeavors that have a positive impact on the local community. Inspired by the work carried out at the Kapiolani Women’s & Children’s Cancer Center, this year’s interns decided to organize a silent auction, utilizing their computer science skills to build a website from scratch to host auction items and take bids. The team developed a user-friendly bidding website that allowed Oceanit employees to participate in the silent auction seamlessly.
To acquire auction items, the interns reached out to Oceanit employees for support. They received a great response, as employees generously donated a wide array of items and experiences to be auctioned off – more than 75 in total. The items up for bids included unique artworks and jewelry, experience packages such as climbing lessons or lunch with the CEO, and even a pet red-footed tortoise.
As the bidding heated up, the interns infused the fundraising with a sense of excitement and community spirit. Oceanit employees engaged in friendly competition, competitively bidding back and forth against each other for their desired items. The auction culminated in over $1200 raised for the Kapiolani Health Foundation. These funds will contribute to providing essential support, resources, and care to those facing the challenging journey of cancer treatment and recovery.
The 2023 summer interns set an inspiring example of how a diverse group of talented individuals can make an impact through their philanthropic efforts. Their silent auction fundraiser not only raised substantial funds for a worthy cause but also brought together the Oceanit community in the spirit of Aloha.
The 2023 Oceanit Summer Intern Program class includes:
Katie Ching – A senior at Santa Clara University, majoring in bioengineering. This summer, Katie prepared and characterized bio-inspired marine inhibition coatings for field deployment studies, developing and optimizing the application process for novel surface treatments on various substrates. She was mentored by Katie Uttley, Ph.D.
Christopher Norman – A senior at University of Houston, majoring in computer information systems. This summer, Christopher developed front-end software packages for two Oceanit energy sector products, integrating various back-end software into well-polished, deployable products for field use. He was mentored by Alexander Ventura.
Noa Takeyama – A senior at University of San Diego, majoring in mechanical engineering. This summer, Noa designed and fabricated parts, and modified housings for the Oceanit CorLance and ADAPT systems, and also developed the electromechanical joystick control interface that operates Oceanit’s CorLance platform. He was mentored by Patrick Boll.
Giorgio Tran – A Master’s student at University of Hawaii at Manoa, majoring in computer science. This summer, Giorgio worked on Oceanit’s RIVEAL system, evolving early models into a unified, user-friendly control application. He also designed the storage architecture for data recording, archiving, and retrieval. He was mentored by Dylan Kobayashi, Ph.D.
Kian La’i Viernes – A senior at University of Hawaii at Manoa, majoring in mechanical engineering. This summer, La’i worked to develop and fabricate a motorized, 3D-printed extendable control for a borescope, as part of the CorLance and Piggyback products. He coded control functions to handle position, speed, and recording functions for a range of visual and IR imaging systems. He was mentored by Matthew Nakatsuka, Ph.D.
