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KS and UH partners involved in Project ʻOlonā and Hālau Pā collaborations come together at Mauna ʻAla to launch the exciting, new three-year STEM initiative.

Partners from Kamehameha Schools (KS) and the University of Hawaiʻi System recently came together to launch an exciting three-year Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) innovation and entrepreneurship collaboration.

The collaboration includes two projects: Project ʻOlonā, which comprises six integrated Hawaiian culture-based STEM and healthcare teams assigned to specific laʻau lapaʻau (Hawaiian herbal medicine) projects and Hālau Pā, an innovation hub located in the heart of Mōʻiliʻili.

Project ʻOlonā

The newly formed education collective aims to engage Native Hawaiian community college students in Project ʻOlonā through a series of applied and scientific research projects that are founded on Native Hawaiian ʻike and ways of knowing and doing while leveraging 21st-century scientific technology and tools to better investigate and understand what their kūpuna knew and practiced through centuries of lived experiences.

Hālau Pā

The Hālau Pā will be the piko or central point for the convergence of Native Hawaiian student research and innovation. It will provide a space for highly creative, culturally-grounded, interdisciplinary collaboration for students from the various colleges and programs—including nursing/health, construction and business—to pursue research, product development and prototyping.

Students will have access to design space and equipment, as well as university researchers, mentors and industry experts. Coordinated student research and product prototyping developed at the Hālau Pā will be supported by Kapiʻolani Community College, Windward Community College and the UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine faculty. Entrepreneurship experts from XLR8UH will assist the students in cultivating commercially viable products or services.

For the full article and photos from the launch, visit Kamehameha Schools’ I Mua Newsroom.

Written by KS Executive Strategy Consultant Stacy Clayton (republished with permission)

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