Is Santa guilty of breaking the laws of physics as expressed in Einstein's theory of relativity? Can Santa deliver all his gifts to the good children of the world without breaking the universal limit set by the speed of light?

Dr. Robert Jedicke of the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy will take an entertaining look at Mr. Claus' annual trip from the physicist's perspective. In the process, he will introduce the audience to the bizarre effects that take place in a relativistic universe.

This will be a fun, equation-free presentation suitable for those in high school or older. Dr. Jedicke gave this talk at IfA Manoa last year, and it is back by popular demand.

The talk will be given at three times on three islands: at the Maikalani building in Pukalani, Maui, on Friday, December 5 at 6:30 p.m., in the UH Manoa Art Building Auditorium (room 132) on Monday, December 8 at 7:00 p.m., and on Thursday, December 11 at 7:00 p.m. at UH Hilo in the University Classroom Building, room 100.

Admission is free. Those attending on Maui are asked to park on the street. On-campus parking at UH Manoa is available for $3.

Cookies and eggnog will be served after the Manoa talk.

For more information check out the press release at the Institute for Astronomy website.

Teachers will be lead through a series of lectures and hands on labs in Chemistry, Cell Biology, Mendelian Genetics and Biotechnology.

Requirements: 4th - 8th grade Hawaii science teachers.

Cost: Free to admitted applicants

Where: Maui Community College

When: January 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 8th and 9th 2009

9AM - 3 PM each day

Download Flyer (pdf)

Check out the new Society of Women Engineers Website!

Three UH Manoa graduate level scientists came over last week from Oahu to support activities in classrooms at five different Maui County schools. The scientists are all Fellows of the National Science Foundation GK12 program who regularly support Oahu classrooms. The Women in Technology Project coordinated and funded their travel to support Maui schools. These "scientist in the classroom" activities are part of the ongoing, in-class support for teachers who participated in a scientific inquiry workshop this past summer.

Betty Braske, one of the participating teachers, said, "I thought this was a fantastic opportunity for the children! They really need to see what scientists do... what a scientist looks like... and the opportunity to interact with a real scientist. It was great for the kids. Just fantastic!"

Photo: Maui students practice using sampling techniques to study the abundance and diversity of species: 'quadrat sampling'.

Diversity and Equity Initiative at the University of Hawaii Department of Mathematics presents...

"An Afternoon of Beautiful Mathematics for Girls"

Sunday, December 7, 2008
1:00 - 5:00pm
FREE EVENT
Campus Center Ballroom
University of Hawaii at Manoa

Girls in elementary and middle school, along with their families, will be treated to some short expository talks about beautiful and exciting mathematics. They will then have the opportunity to explore mathematical ideas more deeply at the mentor-run discover stations.

"I think, therefore I am." - Rene Descartes

For more information visit: http://www.math.hawaii.edu/~mchyba/public/index.htm

This January, Pacific Education and Research for Leadership in Science (PEARLS) are offering a 1-week all expenses paid workshop for 8th grade science educators. In subsequent years, workshop participants will be asked to return as peer mentors for the next respective grade level (2009, 7th grade; 2010, 6th grade). 8-10 new teachers from Hawaii and around the Pacific Basin will be selected to attend this all-expenses paid workshop each year.

The 5-year long project is funded by the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) and administered by the Area Health Education Center (AHEC) through the John A. Burns School of Medicine. The project group also includes the UHM Pre-Health Pre-Law Advising Center (peer mentoring organization) and the UH Curriculum Research & Development Group, currently working with the HIDOE to realign the Hawaii-based science standards to better reflect our cultural heritage and update current markers.

Download the flyer and application form here. The deadline for the application is Nov. 26th, 2008.

For questions or more information, please contact Dr. Vanessa Wong, Program Coordinator, at 808.692.1065 or email vanessa.wong@hawaii.edu.

Pacific Education and Research for Leadership in Science (PEARLS) mission is to increase the number of science graduates from Hawaii and around the Pacific Basin.

Labels: workshops

Errol Gorospe didn't exactly follow the traditional 4 year college plan. As a matter of fact, this Baldwin High School alum admitted to struggling through his college days before finding his niche in the professional world. The jiu jitsu and surfing sport fanatic is employed as the Lead Network Infrastructure Specialist for Akimeka, LLC, a fast growing Native Hawaiian company with several offices located in Hawaii and the mainland.

"You don't have to smart or top of your class," he says. "You just have to work hard and not lose sight of your goals. Anybody can do what we do.

Errol was one of several young high tech professionals who shared their wisdom and individual career stories with over 50 Maui County high school students at the eleventh annual "Tech Careers: I Am the Future" event on October 23-24 in Kihei, Maui.

Open to all high schools throughout Maui County, the popular two-day DOE-approved event are designed to introduce and motivate students toward careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Equal access is especially important for historically underrepresented groups such as females, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders and disadvantaged students.

As the primary sponsor of Tech Careers Day, the Maui Economic Development Board's Women in Technology (WIT) Project partnered with prominent technology-based companies to put on the event. 2008 participants included Akimeka, Boeing, Maui High Performance Computing Center, Monsanto, Northrop Grumman, Oceanit, Pacific Disaster Center, Textron, University of Hawaii-Institute for Astronomy, and the U.S. Air Force.

"Exposing students to a whole range of STEM job opportunities during high school enable them make critical curricular and extracurricular choices that can eventually lead to tech career paths in the future," Jenilynne Salvador, WIT Project Manager said. "They are introduced to young, local role models thriving in these professions and it gets them thinking 'I can do that!'"

Day One began with a panel of professionals, many of them graduates of Maui high schools, talking about "How I Got My Start," followed by site visits to companies in the Tech Park, a team-based hands-on engineering game, and a cultural session on Polynesian Wayfinding and its connection to modern day astronomy and science.

Day Two allowed students a rare opportunity to visit the observatories atop Haleakala, including facilities managed by the UH Institute for Astronomy and the Maui Space Surveillance Center operated by the U.S. Air Force. King Kekaulike student, Jason Bascon, Jr. commented that the highlight of his tech careers experience was "...ooking at the telescopes and inside the facilities. I always wanted to know what was up here."

In addition to bus transportation to and from the activities for all, WIT provided overnight accommodations for Molokai and Lanai students. The program was funded by the U.S. Air Force Laboratory, County of Maui, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Photo: Tech Careers Professional Panel (L-R: Nathan Kimura, Errol Gorospe, Starla Cosme, Sarah Loney, Kawai Kuluhiwa, Jason Zhang, Glenda Ramos, Alisa Manangan.) These young professionals shared their experiences on the "How I Got My Start" panel portion of the program.

The university relations wing of IBM organized the first ever Women in Technology Conference in Bangalore, India today, and saw students and IBM technicians indulge in discussions and opinion sharing.

The core ideas of the conference was to graduate from a reactive and defensive mode of software and hardware development to a more agile, positive and imaginative way of working, aimed at innovations that would ultimately lead to better products - software or otherwise.

The Women in Technology conference focused also on using technology to empower women, as an attempt to complete the give-and-take lifecycle, where technology is looked upon as a facilitator for women and working backwards to foster innovation from women to feed the technology ecosystem in the country, and the larger worldwide community.

Read the Full Article

Sponsored by Bank of America, the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing recognizes young women at the high-school level for their computing-related achievements and interests. By generating visibility for these young women in their local communities, the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing encourages their continued interest in computing, attracts the attention and support of educational and corporate institutions, and emphasizes at a personal level the importance of women's participation. Awardees are selected for their demonstrated, outstanding aptitude and interest in information technology/computing; solid leadership ability; good academic history; and plans for post-secondary education.

Researchers in Australia have discovered that honey bees have the ability to count - at least to the number four! Check it out.

Do women bring an extra something to technology research and development? You can read the article at MSNBC

Baldwin High School's Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST) program currently is holding a canned-goods drive for the Maui Food Bank.

The food may be put in a box in the Baldwin High School office from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. The goal is for each donor to give at least three cans.

The campaign runs through Dec. 22.

For more information, call Lester Kunimitsu at 984-5656, ext. 240.

Congratulations to the five leaders in science and technology who were Inducted to WITI Hall of Fame at the October WITI Women and Technology Summit: Women's Leadership - Shaping the Future.

WITI's Hall of Fame was established in 1996 to recognize, honor, and promote the outstanding contributions women make to the scientific and technological communities that improve and evolve our society.

Check out the WITI website and the 2008 winners.

The US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics released the current Employment and Wage Estimate statistics (May 2007). Check out the internal salary chart for Hawaii and its STEM occupations. The occupational employment and wage estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in Hawaii.

Labels: resources

O'Reilly, known for publishing computer books will be distributing No Starch Press english translations of the popular Manga comics with science and technology topics. The first book to be published will be The Manga Guide to Statistics.

Check out the press release.

The Association for Women in Science (AWIS) sent questionnaires to the Obama and McCain campaigns regarding the candidates' positions on issues affecting women in science. Read a side-by-side comparison of Obama's and McCain's responses here.

Check out these EAST Initiatives from around country! EAST have even established a presence on Facebook for the EAST Initiative and EAST Night Out.

KIHEI - Applying high tech software to real world issues was the focus of the second annual Industry Day held on September 30th. Over 100 Project EAST students and school facilitators from Maui and Molokai listened and learned from industry professionals from five technology-related companies.

Labels: project east

In contributing $3 billion in 2007 to the state's economy, private technology companies represent only a small percentage of overall earnings in Hawaii's business sector. But a new analysis of Hawaii's position in technology industries released last week said employment in the sector should continue to grow at 2.1 percent annually, and will require 1,650 trained workers statewide every year. Read the full article at Maui News.

Labels: education initiatives

Check out Giga Omni Media's network of sites that provide one of the leading daily online news reads for the key influencers in the emerging technology market place.

Labels: websites

Read about the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology study -- Climbing the Technical Ladder which provides an in-depth look into the barriers to retention and advancement of technical women and provides solid recommendations to high tech companies on how to overcome these barriers.

Labels: research

The Maui Economic Development Board is pleased to announce the 7th Annual High Tech Maui Holiday Career Fair, December 29th at Ke Alahele - The MEDB Center in Kihei. The Job Fair has attracted nearly 800 applicants since inception and has placed more than 60 job seekers in local companies, including high tech tenants within the R and T Park as well as employers outside the Park.

Labels: tech job fair

Labels: tech careers

Labels: statistics

Labels: workshops

Atop the summit of Haleakala, the world's largest digital camera is taking pictures of the night sky as part of a sky-surveying project to detect space objects that could threaten Earth. Read full article at Maui News.

Labels: astronomy

Labels: middle school, tech careers

Labels: middle school, tech careers

Computer science students who took the top two senior research awards at last year's State Science and Engineering Fair are repeat winners this year but traded places. Read the full article at the Honolulu Star Bulletin.

Labels: computer science

Anyone who thinks the future isn't bright should look at student exhibits at the State Science and Engineering Fair, says a veteran of the event.  Read the full article at the Honolulu Star Bulletin.