NexTech Events
Paper Roller Coaster - Engineering Day Camp
On May 18, 2024, NexTech hosted an engineering activity that centered on designing and building paper roller coasters. Several keiki and their parents participated in this fun event.
FishTank 2024 Pitch Day
Mahalo nui for helping us close our FishTank 2024 season. Our in-person Pitch Day event was held at UH Hilo on March 9th, 2024, where five finalist teams presented their Lightning Pitches to a live audience of over 70 participants. Student teams and their families and friends were joined by their team coordinators, STEM professionals/SME and NexTech supporters, and volunteers to hear about their solutions to real and local problems.
Well done to all our teams that participated this season! We're so proud of your learning and personal growth. You overcame obstacles, followed your curiosity, and went out into the community to learn and challenge your thinking—not always easy for us.
FishTank 2022 Finals
NexTech Hawai’i held its third annual STEM event – FishTank Design Competition - on March 4, 2023. The event, held at UH Hilo’s Sciences and Technology Building, was well attended by families and local business, government, and business leaders.
The event was the culmination of an eleven-week effort where ten teams of Hawai’i Island students identified local sustainability problems and developed solution concepts to address these challenges. The team had, as a learning backdrop, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). NexTech provided the teams with training on several relevant topics – engineering design process, systems thinking, lifecycle analysis, general problem solving, and story-telling presentation skills. Over 35 Subject Matter Experts also supported them.
Fall Break 2022 STEM Camp
NexTech Hawai'i and the Waiakea Robotics Team hosted a STEM Camp on October 3 and 4. The camp was well-attended and provided many local students with the opportunity to explore coding, drones, robotics, animation, and gaming.
NexTech at the EV and Sustainability Fair - September 2022
NexTech Hawai'i participated in the recent He Ala Pono Electric Vehicle and Sustainability Fair at the Prince Kuhio Mall.
Bridges of Hamakua Program - July 2022
NexTech Hawai'i hosted Bridges of Hamakua, a journey that explored the history of the bridges along the Hamakua coast and the engineering involved in the construction and renovation of these feats.
Spring Break STEM Exploration - March 2022
NexTech Hawai'i held a three-day Spring Break program in March of this year. The event included an ArcGIS course introducing our participants to GIS technology and mapping. Students received a year’s subscription to ArcGIS Online as part of this course. The second day included a short hike at a nature trail where local birds were observed and their song recorded. The recordings were subsequently analyzed at a UH lab on the following day.
STEM Advance Camp - October 2021
NexTech Hawai'i STEM Advance Camp was held on October 2 and 3, 2021. The event was held virtually over Zoom and offered Hawaii Island students the opportunity to learn several valuable skills - website design, coding, and ArcGIS.
Participants shared their proposals for a responsible land-use plan for an abandoned 163-acre golf course property in Volcano.
FishTank Design Competition - 2021
The Success Factory – NexTech Hawai'i held its annual STEM event – FishTank Design Competition – on April 24, 2021. The competition began with 12 teams from across the Big Island. Participants were offered weekly learning opportunities where relevant skill-building topics were covered. This included Problem Solving, Design Thinking, Leadership, Engineering Process, Technical Report Writing, and Presentation Skills. They worked with mentors and subject-matter experts to work through the engineering process to arrive at their solutions.
