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With general fund support from the Hawaii State Legislature and Governor Josh Green, the University of Hawaii is in the early stages of establishing a space engineering and instrument development center at the University of Hawaii Institute of Astronomy facility at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. The space science initiative is expected to raise millions of dollars, expand Hawaii’s technology sector and create more high-paying jobs on the Big Island and across the state.
UH students can help develop instruments for space-based missions and ground-based telescopes.
To launch the program, UH has received $2 million in state funding to begin the initial design of the facility, currently estimated to cost between $30 million and $40 million to build. UH students will gain valuable hands-on training at a center that builds instruments for space missions and ground-based telescopes.
Ground-based observatories, including those based in Hawaii, regularly spend tens of millions of dollars to upgrade equipment and build measurement instruments. This engineering work typically occurs outside the state, and the planned facility will be designed to enable the majority of that work to occur in Hawaii. The additive manufacturing and precision machining capabilities of the center and its staff will also serve Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and other Department of Defense agencies, as well as aerospace and private sector partners.
The Institute of Astronomy headquarters at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
“The building blocks for this type of successful center already exist at the University of Hawaii, and this new initiative helps unite them and bring them together effectively,” said Vasilis L. Sirmos, vice president for research and innovation at the University of Hawaii. “We are investing in locally based research and training for students and faculty on Hawaii Island, where aerospace engineering and advanced manufacturing are at the forefront of high-tech industries that can support a locally based, highly educated, and well-paid workforce.”
The center is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the University of Hawaii Institute of Astronomy (IfA), the University of Hawaii at Hilo, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Engineering (COE), one of 15 percent of the nation’s technical universities dedicated to aerospace or related programs. IfA astronomers and engineers have already developed some of the world’s most advanced astronomy instruments, including:
The Institute of Astronomy has been building astronomy instruments since the late 1960s.
“Hawaii is home to the world’s best astronomy centers and the world’s best research universities, so this is a natural fit,” said Brennon Morioka, dean of the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Engineering, one of the program’s driving forces. “UH is currently one of only a few universities developing an on-campus astronomy manufacturing center that will have a profound impact on our students, the state of Hawaii and beyond.”
Construction of the center is expected to be completed by 2030, contingent on securing funding for the construction phase, while associated academic programs will begin in the fall semester of 2024. University of Hawaii at Hilo will begin offering initial pre-engineering courses during the development of its new high-tech manufacturing center.
“The launch of the Space Science Initiative, in collaboration with University of Hawaii at Manoa and the University of Hawaii System, provides a valuable opportunity for UH Hilo and its students,” said UH Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin. “It will expand our academic offerings and, in turn, create additional career opportunities for our students, especially those from the Big Island.”
Ten new full-time faculty members are currently being recruited to teach required engineering courses at UH Hilo and serve as the core engineering team for the new center. Five of the new faculty members will be based at IfA’s Hilo facility, and the remaining will be based in the School of Engineering at UH Manoa. UH Hilo students can transfer their credits to UH Manoa and earn their engineering degree there. The Mauna Kea and Haleakala observatories employ approximately 500 engineers and technicians specializing in optics, software, data science, materials, machines, systems, and cryogenics.
Astronomical Institute Mechanic
“Most of the students at UH Hilo are from the Big Island, and they’re going to go into engineering and ultimately into careers that support Hawai’i’s observatories,” says UH Ifua Dean Doug Simmons, another advocate for the program. “Right now, these high-paying jobs are too often given to nonresidents who are likely to be gone in a few years. We want to give these jobs to local kids. Not only will that be good for them and their families, but it will increase the stability of the astronomy field and benefit our community at large.”
According to a report on astronomy in Hawaii by the University of Hawaii Economic Research Institute, in 2019 the astronomy industry supported 1,313 resident jobs and had a total economic impact (output of goods and services) of $221 million.
The Technology Development Center will manufacture instruments for telescopes such as the University of Hawaii Panoramic Survey Telescope and the Rapid Response System on Mount Haleakala.
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