A Celebration of Life for Helene Hilyer Hale

Tonight was the “Celebration of Life” for the late Helene Hilyer Hale.

Click on photo to enlarge

Click on photo to enlarge

Click on photo to enlarge

Click on photo to enlarge

Click on photo to enlarge

 

Here are some pictures I took earlier this evening at Imiloa Astronomy Center:

 

Sciencenter’s Sagan Planet Walk – New Star Station to be Located on the Big Island

The Sciencenter’s Sagan Planet Walk will soon be the largest exhibition in the world! On Sept. 28, the exhibition will expand from Ithaca to Hawaii to include the star nearest to the Sun, Alpha Centauri.

In keeping with the 1-to-5 billion scale of the exhibition, this new star station will be located on the Big Island of Hawaii at the Imiloa Astronomy Center of the University of Hawaii. The newly expanded Sagan Planet Walk will measure 5,000 miles from end to end.The Alpha Centauri station has been two years in the making, a partnership of the Sciencenter, Imiloa Astronomy Center, Cornell University, the University of Hawaii and NASA…

More Here:  Sciencenter’s Sagan Planet Walk expands to Hawaii

Related articles

• Members of the Mars Nutrition Program Talk About Expectations and Goals (damontucker.com)
• Relativity: Ten minutes to Alpha Centauri? (skullsinthestars.com)

3D Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe – Limited Run Through September at Imiloa

Family Free Day at Imiloa’s 5th Anniversary Celebration

1ST Hawaii International Micro Robot Conference and Tournament to be Held on the Big Island

From the House Majority Communication Office:

The 1st Hawaii International Micro Robot Conference and Tournament will be held at the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center at the University of Hawaii at Hilo from July 16-19, 2010.

The effort is being led by the Waiakea High School Robotics Club and the Hawaii Space Grant Consortium, two groups that have provided many opportunities for science students and teachers in the field of robotics and technology.

Art Kimura, Education Specialist at the Hawaii Space Grant Consortium, said this event is being held to jumpstart the conversation on how the Big Island can benefit from micro mechanisms. The event will allow community leaders to talk to industry experts and learn about the advantages and possibilities of a micro mechanisms and robotics industry rooting from the islands.

“The exciting thing about this endeavor is the idea that the Big Island could become a center for the development of micro mechanisms research and development and a micro-robotics industry in the pacific,” Kimura said.

Because of this tournament, Hawaii students will now have the opportunity to compete without paying high costs to fly elsewhere for the same experience.

The goal of the conference is to stimulate high technology education and assist in the creation of a technically capable workforce by developing the infrastructure and skill sets necessary to support high technology robotics based activities.

“Once this is in place,” said Rep. Nakashima, a supporter of the effort, “the next step will be identifying the real world potential and application for this growing technology as we invite new industries to the Big Island to take advantage of our newly skilled work force.”

A public event featuring an origami presentation and bipedal robot demonstration will be held on Saturday, July 17, 2010, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center.

·         Origami presentation by Hidenori Ishihara, a robotics professor from Kagawa University.

·         Bipedal robot demonstration by Risa Saito, a Japanese high school student who won the bipedal competition in the 2009 Micro Robot Contest at Nagoya University, and Hideaki Matsutani, a Japanese technical education teacher who conducts bipedal workshops in Nagoya for middle school students.

Seating for this event is first come, first served.

Japan’s Subaru Telescope Donates $9,500 to UH Hilo’s Imiloa Astronomy Center

UH Release:

“Since the establishment of our local telescope facility in 1999, Subaru has been indebted to the people of the Big Island for their support of our mission, and we want to say thank you to the local community by helping to make it possible for local children to visit the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center at UH Hilo.” –Dr. Masahiko Hayashi, Director, Subaru Telescope

HILO – UH Hilo’s ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai‘i has received a generous donation of $9,500 from Subaru Telescope of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. The donation will support visits to the ‘Imiloa Center by K-12 schoolchildren and their teachers, as part of an ambitious two-year program through which ‘Imiloa is arranging programs for all public and private schools on the Big Island. The source of the gift was the Japan Foundation for the Promotion of Astronomy.

Subaru’s donation will be matched with another $19,000–effectively tripling the value of the gift–under the terms of a 2008 grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The Moore Foundation grant is assisting the center with its goal of reaching 100 percent of the island’s school-aged children, by bringing them to ‘Imiloa to experience its exhibits, planetarium and educational programs. Transportation to the Center, admission, and lunch are all provided thanks to the grant, making the field trip possible for students throughout the island. For every $1 of additional support which ‘Imiloa secures for the program, the Moore Foundation grant is providing $2.

The ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center has a special mission to engage youth in Hawai‘i, involving them in hands-on exploration of astronomy, together with Hawaiian language, navigational skills and indigenous culture. The resulting sense of pride and the interest in science and engineering that ‘Imiloa is instilling are critical tools for preparing local young people to participate in Hawai‘i’s 21st century economy. In pursuit of this mission, ‘Imiloa has set an aggressive goal of reaching all of Hawai‘i Island’s 30,000 K-12 schoolchildren through its educational programs over the next two years.

Subaru Telescope and its parent body, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, have made previous gifts to the ‘Imiloa Center, including the donation of a unique “4D2U” theatre exhibit on the origins of the universe and another exhibit on the history of the telescope. Subaru also sponsored a special planetarium show geared to children, “The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket,” and assisted with the creation and script for “Hawaii’s Observatories,” a 3D show in the planetarium.

‘Imiloa’s Associate Director Ka‘iu Kimura commented, “Support from Subaru Telescope is helping ‘Imiloa ensure that local children grow up understanding that successful participation in science and technology does not mean a rejection of their Hawaiian heritage but, indeed, underscores the unique values of that heritage.”

UH Hilo Chancellor Rose Tseng added, “The University of Hawai‘i at Hilo is very grateful for the leadership support of the Japan Foundation for the Promotion of Astronomy, which has been provided to our campus annually for the past nine years through Subaru Telescope and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.”