The goal of the project this year is to continue to build upon the semi-autonomous sustainable aquaponics system that we built last year. The project will be renamed to Intelliponics and will be redesigned to incorporate additional components and technology building upon the knowledge gained last year. The new system design incorporates a more efficient vertical configuration that will reduce water evaporation and improve water circulation while allowing for a higher crop yield with a smaller overall footprint. In addition to the existing solar panel a small-scale wind turbine will be used to increase operating capacity during times when solar generation is reduced or unavailable. The long-term goal of the project is to create a system that can be shared with the educational community and used to educate students on how to combine modern advancements in technology with agriculture to provide a sustainable food source for future generations.

According to West Hawaii Today, Hawaii imports 90% of what we eat and keeps only one week’s supply of food in-state. This is incredibly unsustainable and makes Hawai‘i vulnerable to natural disasters and economic disruptions. Increasing Hawai‘i’s capacity to produce and sell local food will help reduce our vulnerability to these external pressures. In an effort to address this issue, I aim to create a permaculture garden at the Priory to spread awareness of Hawaii's food shortage problem and to promote an appreciation for locally grown food. This permaculture system will connect our school’s existing resources— rain barrels, worm bins, chicken coop, aquaponics, garden beds, and an upcoming vertical garden system— to produce plants.

Ho’ola Leadership Academy is looking for funds to continue our Ku’i Club in order to succeed the goal of engaging and incorporating Ha standards by expanding our club’s mission in servicing a larger part of the Kapolei community. In order to do this, we have formally established the Ku’i Club as a DOE recognized school club where we will be having monthly meetings to Ku’i kalo and learn the basics of this tradition and its cultural importance. In addition, my fellow teammates and I will be going back to do the Papa and Pohaku classes so we can gain more materials and have an Alaka’i when i graduate so we may continue this Club. In addition, we have won the Center for Tomorrow's Leaders (CTL) Project of the Year Award 2018-2019 and we are planning to enter the competition again this year with the Ku’i Club.

Horticultural farming has a huge impact on the well-being of our environment. Because the process of traditional farming is so normalized, there hasn’t been adequate attention to a solution. In this project, we hope to engineer a design in which we lessen the demand for horticultural farming. We would do this by creating an easier way to grow food at home.

This project is aimed at reducing produced food waste at schools. I seek to use my engineering skills to build an automated composter that could assist in processing various waste produced at school and at home. The automation involves using Raspberry Pi to automate aeration, watering, and real-time temperature sensing. Kalaheo is implementing a “zero food waste” initiative, so designing an automated composting system will make maintaining this composting initiative easier on school staff.

Our project goal is to grant access and awareness to environmental sites using Thinglink Pro to further enhance the learning experience through virtual field trips. These virtual reality field trips create a more hands-on experience for students and the community who physically can’t be at the site. So instead of missing out on valuable learning opportunities, our project brings it straight to your fingertips at a full 360 degree view.

In my project, I will be creating an antiperspirant without the use of aluminum and polyethylene. Aluminum is known to be a harmful chemical due to its link to breast cancer, and its toxic agent on gill breathing animals. Polyethylene is the most commonly used plastic also integrated into antiperspirants. While creating an antiperspirant without both aluminum and polyethylene there will be less of a harmful effect on the environment when in use and then disposed of. I will incorporate the use of 100% biodegradable plastic for packaging. When it comes to the actual making of the antiperspirant I will be using natural ingredients. Using 100% biodegradable plastic we will be reducing the use of polyethylene to convert antiperspirants into a 100% eco-friendly product.

In this project, we will be creating an outreach by educating children in elementary, middle, and/or high school students about the harmful environmental impacts of clothing made of nonrenewable resources. We will be teaching them about materials in clothing that contain nonrenewable sources, such as plastic polyester that cause harm to the environment by the excretion of microplastics as they are being used and washed. Along with teaching others about harmful clothing materials, we will be educating others about renewable clothing materials that are more friendly with the environment, such as 100% organic cotton material. With this information and further research, we will create a children’s book which we will present in our outreach events; as well as create our own T-shirt design made of organic material that doesn’t contain any non-renewable resources to bring awareness to this issue.