UH’s Space Science and Engineering Initiative
LOCATED IN ONE OF THE MOST GEOGRAPHICALLY ISOLATED LOCATIONS IN THE WORLD, the University of Hawai‘i (UH) has established itself as a world-renowned leader in space-related programs. Thanks to clean, stable air and high volcanic summits that provide some of the best locations for ground-based astronomy, UH’s cadre of talented researchers have made incredible discoveries like Pōwehi, the first imaged black hole, and ‘Oumuamua, the first interstellar object detected passing through the Solar System. Other telescopes like UH’s Pan-STARRS facilities located on Haleakalā, Maui, and ATLAS located on Haleakalā and Maunaloa, Hawai‘i Island, work in tandem to scan the night sky to provide an early warning network to detect Near Earth Objects that may pose a threat to the planet.
Naturally, UH has also developed into a globally recognized leader in astronomy, advanced instrumentation, and small satellite/CubeSat development. The HAWAII-2RGs near-infrared sensors aboard NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope were developed by researchers at the Astronomy (IfA) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UH Mānoa), as were the DL-NIRSP and Cryo-NIRSP instruments that enable the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope on Haleakalā to study the Sun’s magnetic field with stunning detail. In 2015, the Hawai‘i Space Flight Laboratory (HSFL) designed and constructed the primary payload for the state’s first space launch and continues its student-centered CubeSat development program. Earlier this year, a hyperspectral thermal imaging satellite jointly developed by HSFL/Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology was successfully launched into orbit to monitor water resources on Earth as part of a technology demonstration mission funded by NASA.
In spite of these impressive achievements and over $200 million injected yearly into the state’s economy from astronomy, it is surprising to know that of the over 500 engineers and technicians employed in that sector, only about 30 percent of them were born and raised in the islands. The University of Hawai‘i wants to help change that statistic by expanding the technology sector and creating more high-paying jobs in the state with its new Space Sciences and Engineering Initiative, a collaboration principally between the UH Mānoa College of Engineering, IfA and the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo (UH Hilo).
“After engaging in a lot of discussion with representatives and stakeholders from the observatories, UH Hilo, and the Hilo community, we realized that engineering needs to play far bigger role in support of not just the telescopes but Hawai‘i Island’s overall economy,” said UH Mānoa College of Engineering Dean Brennon Morioka, the program’s lead architect. “At the same time, we also recognized the importance of creating a more robust engineering curriculum for Hawai‘i Island students that could lead to future employment opportunities in their own backyard.”
At the core of this important initiative is the establishment of a space engineering and instrument development center at IfA’s facility at UH Hilo (IfA Hilo) that will be able to build instrumentation and advance technology development for observatories across Hawai‘i. Currently, with no central engineering support center on the island, large, expensive and delicate instruments, often shipped from Europe, Japan and the U.S. mainland, have limited sea-level resources to conduct extensive integration and tests of large instruments prior to the slow and arduous journey up to the summit. If something is found to be amiss, the hardware must often be brought down the mountain and potentially shipped back to its point of origin for the necessary repairs — resulting in costly and lengthy delays. With ground-based observatories spending tens of millions of dollars to upgrade equipment and build prototype instrumentation on a recurring basis, the planned engineering and instrumentation center aims to redirect a significant portion of that spending to the Hawai‘i economy, while easing logistical challenges. Services planned include instrument testing and repair, commissioning, precision (subtractive) manufacturing, and additive manufacturing/rapid prototyping.
To support the planned facility, UH Mānoa’s College of Engineering is in the process of filling an initial 10 faculty engineering positions with a wide range of disciplines, including cryogenics, optics, communications, aerospace, additive manufacturing, and control systems. Five faculty will be based at Mānoa and the other five will be based at IfA Hilo. They will together function as a cohort to support operations and research. The Hawai‘i Island-based faculty will also help to complement and augment UH Hilo’s ability to offer a full spectrum of pre-engineering courses, including statics, dynamics, circuits and other prerequisite courses. This will enable Hawai‘i Island students to remain at home in Hilo for the first two years before automatically transferring to the UH Mānoa’s College of Engineering to finish up their engineering degree and pursue opportunities to work in space engineering in the islands.
“We know that students who want to stay at home longer and only leave because they have to, are the ones who tend to return home after they graduate, which would be a huge asset to the engineering community in Hilo and the state, ” said UH Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin, a co-architect of the initiative. “Our premise is to create an educational/workforce development pipeline for Hawai‘i Island and to support key niche areas, like astronomy and space instrumentation, where Hawai‘i has world-class expertise.”
To get a jump start on things, the initiative plans to have a workforce development team in place to discuss opportunities for students to get localized hands-on training and experience in astronomy and aerospace. Combined with the highly successful programs like the Akamai internship program that offers undergraduates 8-weeks of summer work at an observatory, or the Maunakea Scholars program that provides high school students competitively allocated observing times on Hawai‘i telescopes, UH is carving out a dynamic workforce development ecosystem.
It is this expertise and workforce development focus that convinced the Hawai‘i State Legislature to help provide initial funding for the UH initiative, which includes the first faculty cohort and planning for the Hilo facility, a 30,000 square foot mixed-use space that will house a large integration/test site, clean rooms, laboratories and office spaces. A consultant is currently working with the UH design team, comprised of representatives from the observatories, IfA, UH Mānoa’s College of Engineering, a local engineering firm and the Hilo community to develop a comprehensive design package over the next two to three years. It is estimated that the facility will cost somewhere in the $30-$50 million range with UH working to secure federal funds to construct the facility.
Though somewhat similar to instrumentation manufacturing facilities like the Astronomy Technology Center in Scotland, the Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre at Mount Stromlo Observatory in Australia, and the NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre in British Columbia, UH’s model is a rarity in the field.
“Usually instrumentation teams function on grant money, so it’s difficult to achieve continuity in knowledge and personnel as funding cycles up and down,” said IfA Director Doug Simons, a co-architect of the initiative and design team lead. “But with a state-funded core team of engineers permanently in place at our facility, we will be able to maintain that continuity throughout the years and that will give UH a competitive edge and further solidify its standing as a world leader in instrument design and manufacturing.”
The astronomical community is not the only group that could benefit from UH’s space engineering and instrumentation center. Department of Defense facilities in Hawai‘i, especially the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, are looking for additive manufacturing capabilities to keep US Pacific Fleet assets operationally ready. Also, other local companies like Hawaiian Electric Company with a stable of older power plants that require parts that are no longer manufactured, will be able benefit from the center’s rapid prototyping capability.
“The components of a successful center of this type already exist at UH, and this new initiative is helping to cohesively and effectively bring them together,” said UH Vice President of Research and Innovation Vassilis L. Syrmos. “We are on the verge of investing in place-based research and training of our students and faculty on Hawai‘i Island, where space engineering and advanced manufacturing are at the forefront of a high-tech industry that can support a locally based, well-educated and highly paid workforce.”