Behavioral and Social Sciences
I use "spatial capital" to refer to the potential for socioeconomic mobility in urban locations. I hypothesize that spatial capital adhere's to Piketty's r > g dynamic for financial capital,…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Leigh Syndrome (LS) is a rare mitochondrial disorder caused by mutations in the SURF1 gene, leading to reduced Complex IV enzymatic activity, impaired oxidative phosphorylation, and severe m…
Physics and Astronomy
The possible existence of sub-solar mass black holes poses a challenge to current models of stellar evolution, as there is no known formation mechanism to produce such objects. There is some…
Engineering Technology: Statics & Dynamics
3D printing, or additive manufacturing, has revolutionized various industries but faces challenges related to structural instability and material waste. Globally, 3D-printed models generate…
Engineering Technology: Statics & Dynamics
Creation of a compact radar system enhanced with AI-assisted ESRGAN imaging is proposed for advanced target detection and high-resolution situational awareness. The system integrates a phase…
Animal Sciences
Invasive Anthozoan species, including the Octocorallia Unomia stolonifera and Capnella, and the Hexacorallia Fimbriaphyllia paraancora, Rhodactis, and Anemonia manjano, are proliferating wit…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Microplastics, degraded from plastic products, have become a pervasive pollutant that severely impacts marine ecosystems and public health. This issue is especially critical in Hawaii, where…
Microbiology
Hawaii has a higher prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections compared to the national average. Environmental water is a major vehicle for the transmission…
Plant Sciences
Marine microalgae are responsible for nearly 50% of their ecosystem's oxygen production and primary productivity, making them essential in the marine environment. These organisms also play a…
Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design
Hand-powered generators are essential during natural disasters, military missions, and in developing nations. The paperfuge is a paper centrifuge that uses the supercoiling of string to reac…
Mathematics
We explore the Euler-Lagrange equations in which tangent spaces have non-coordinate bases. This generalized form is the Boltzmann-Hamel (BH) equation, which contain a term dependent on a coe…
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (NHPI) suffer disproportionately from cardiometabolic health conditions, with diabetes mortality rates 3.32 times higher than the general population, ye…
Animal Sciences
This project tracked intestinal parasites in stray feline populations on Oahu to assess severity of the presence of parasites in the environment with posed zoonotic risks. Using fecal flotat…
Environmental Engineering
Heavy metal contamination in coastal ecosystems, such as the southern shores of Oahu, poses critical ecological risks. This study explores the potential of Aiptasia anemones for bioremediati…
Biomedical Engineering
Pulse Transit Time (PTT) has been proven in many studies to correlate with blood pressure. When PTT goes down, blood pressure goes up, and vice versa. As a result, PTT can be used to monitor…
Microbiology
Antimicrobials that are used in the medical field are chemically altered and take a lot of hard work to create. In this experiment, we are comparing the antimicrobial ability of arthropod ex…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Cancer is one of the major adverse health issues in the world, and is the second leading cause of death amongst Native Hawaiians. Ovarian cancer specifically, is known to have a stronger eff…
Animal Sciences
Fourth Award
Despite covering less than one percent of the ocean floor, coral reefs sustain an estimated one-third of all known marine species, with most coral species inhabiting deep or cold waters acro…
Animal Sciences
First Award
Populations of green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) in Hawaii have become a source of concern over the past decade due to the tumor-causing disease fibropapillomatosis (FP), the number one cau…
Animal Sciences
The escalating urbanization and proliferation of artificial light at night (ALAN) represent significant ecological stressors impacting nocturnal organisms globally. Moths, as prominent noctu…
Environmental Engineering
Third Award
The August 2023 Maui fires destroyed historic Lahaina town, causing toxic ash to become mobilized into the soil, groundwater, and ocean. This study evaluated the benefits of incorporating na…
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Our project aims to solve the issues that come with poor posture. We will be creating a laptop stand to solve and prevent back pain. Our participants will be students within the age range of…
Materials Science
Background:: With a passion for physics and the dynamics of table tennis spin, we wanted to see if we could create an optimal stickiness that would produce the most spin on the ball. This st…
Plant Sciences
This project compares the water efficiency and germination success rates of traditional nursery pots with the wicking bed - a modern, self-watering gardening technique. I investigate whether…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
In the state of Hawaii, large areas of land contain contaminated soils due to sugar cane plantations from the plantation era. This era impacted Hawaii’s soil as the plantations used many hea…
Microbiology
Tilapia are held responsible for the localized decline of economically important native fish species in the ‘Alekoko Fishpond, namely the Striped Mullet known as the ‘ama‘ama. This novel res…
Chemistry
Noni (Morinda citrifolia) is a traditional Southeast Asian medicinal plant with research indicating antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activity, as well as benefits for cardiovas…
Plant Sciences
Over the course of the years, recent studies indicate a significant decline in Hawaii's native ohia lehua tree population. This is due to a fungal plant pathogen called ceratocystis lukuohia…
Engineering Technology: Statics & Dynamics
We investigated and experimented with structural integrity of towers from maximizing the amount of cross-bracing to enhance efficiency until a drop off point and fortify structures against d…
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Native Hawaiian Pacific Islanders (NHPI) suffer disproportionately from cardiometabolic health conditions compared to other major ethnic groups. This study aimed to address critical gaps in…