Professor Guanlin Gao’s environmental economics class recently headed outdoors to see their classroom learnings in action. On October 11, the class headed to the Waihe’e Water Tunnel operated by the Board of Water Supply to learn about the economics behind water recycling and conservation.
“The Waihe’e Tunnel and watershed tour not only offers an experience walking inside the 1,500-foot dike tunnel that provides water to Windward Oahu, but also allows us to actually see the water recycling process,” says Dr. Gao. “It will help students better understand water recycling and conservation, as well as the concept of a natural monopoly.”
Chaminade is known for bringing education out of the classroom and into everyday surroundings. It’s not uncommon for students to snorkel on a coral reef, hike a nearby valley, visit a police investigation lab, intern at a hospital or volunteer in an elementary school classroom. After all, the best learning happens by doing.
“Besides learning economic models and theories, I also want my students to have the first-hand experience and know the real-world applications of the knowledge they have learned in the classroom,” says Dr. Gao. “I know that will help them understand the things we learn in class better and leave them with a long-lasting memory.”
1. Work ethic—after working as an adjunct professor, Mr. Tumilowicz shifted careers and worked for Hawaii Designs by John Martin where he built boats. It is with this company where he learned the importance of work ethic. “The more boats he produces, the more money he makes.”
Required by his parents to attend medical school, Dr. Yu discovered the need to follow his true passion. Interested in technology, Dr. Yu was highly encouraged by one of his close mentors to enroll at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, a top research and academic center. There, he succeeded finding his passion in radiology. In relevance to this experience, Dr. Yu stressed the importance of having a great mentor who can provide guidance in finding your passion.
Mr. Tsuchiyama’s presentation was about “Living and Working Globally.” He spoke about corporate and international life in relation to entrepreneurship, and showed us a list of the most important things to consider if you dream of living abroad. The list includes planning, having endless curiosity, flexibility, risk-taking, and being open to new perspectives. He also built his talk on the ongoing theme of the semester: leadership.
As a company focused heavily on innovation, Oceanit has funded many interesting products which includes a Hostile Fire Detecting System which can sense high speed events like a gunshot and can use to spot snipers, Passive Boot Drying System which can dry a pair of wet boots in six hours, and Nature’s Sensors which guides ants to sniff drugs and certain chemicals. One of their unfortunate innovations was a Synthetic Virus which can target solid tumor cells to deliver drug treatment. This is an unfortunate innovation because funding for this project was ceased.
It was also an honor to hear words of wisdom from Dr. Roy Panzarella, Vice President of Pacific Operations at Alaka’ina Foundation Family of Companies, a nonprofit corporation whose activities principally benefit the youth of Hawaii. Dr. Panzarella is the former CEO of Lockheed Martin-United Arab Emirates and retired Army Colonel. He is newest member of the Board of Regents at Chaminade University.