Alumni News

You’ve seen Shark Tank? Well, welcome to Space Tank. A UH research team led by Shu-Hwa Lin of the Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences, Fashion Design and Merchandising Program, is heading to Houston to compete in NASA’s MITTIC Competition. Besides participating in the federal space agency’s contest – the first Hawaiʻi group to do so – the team will seek guidance from NASA experts who study fire resistance during spaceship re-entry.

Congrats! to Nhu Nguyen, who was recently awarded the Constantine J. Alexopoulos Prize from the Mycological Society of America. According to the International Center for the Study of Research, Nhu was ranked in the top 1% of all scientists, and the top 1% in the field of “Mycology & Parasitology" out of nearly 26,000 researchers world-wide for the year 2023. 

Aloha Airlines, fondly remembered as “The People’s Airline,” flew across Hawaiʻi’s skies from 1946-2008. Though the company closed its doors 15 years ago, its legacy continues with their Flight Attendant Uniform Collection. More than 60 years of flight attendant uniforms reflect current fashion trends, as well as features local designers and manufacturers.

The entries for the 2023 PEPS Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest get better every year – and the two-point difference between 1st and 2nd place, and 1-5 point differences between 3rd through 6th places – speak volumes! Thank you to all those who took time out of your busy schedules to submit these creative masterpieces, and to those who came to enjoy their efforts and vote!

Removing invasive plants and restoring native ones is key to lowering the risk of wildfire in Hawaii, but what might get left out of the conversation is the role of feral goats. Left to their own devices, these voracious animals eat native plants and strip bark from native trees, leave “large swaths of land open for the spread of invasive fire-adapted species, creating a cycle of ever-increasing fires and opportunities for invasive species.”