Aloha,
Congratulations to all the entrants of the 2024 Engineering Excellence Awards. This year’s banquet highlighted several innovative and complex engineering projects showcasing the creative and exemplary work our member firms provide for the many communities across our State. The coveted Grand Conceptor Award was bestowed to the Punaluu Stream Restoration project – AECOM. On behalf of the ACECH, I applaud AECOM for their outstanding work and achievements which resulted in bettering the Punaluu community.
Our next General Membership Meeting is scheduled for April 10 at the Pacific Club in downtown Honolulu. During this breakfast meeting, Dr. Brennon Morioka, Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Hawai‘i Mānoa, will be presenting on The State of the College of Engineering and its Current Initiatives to Support Students and our Local Engineering Industry. Those interested in participating in this wonderful learning opportunity can sign up here.
The ACECH Annual Meeting has been scheduled for 5:30pm on April 17 at the Kuilei Place development showroom at Ala Moana Center. During this year’s Annual Meeting, the slate of new officers for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, updates to the Bylaws and Constitution, and recommendations for the upcoming year’s membership dues will be presented and voted on. Hosted by the Kuilei Place, also hear about the development from the designing engineer and ACECH member firm SSFM International, Inc. Click here for more information on the Annual Meeting.
The recipient of this year’s ACECH Engineering Scholarship top award is Kelly Mukai, daughter of Derek Mukai from the member firm, Community Planning and Engineering. Kelly is a Junior attending Brown University studying Environmental Engineering and aspires to make a positive impact on climate change and current environmental issues.
Calling all leaders! ACECH is on the hunt for a few members to chair or participate in two new developing committees. The Building Permit Exemption Ad Hoc Committee will tackle the growing trend in Honolulu of government agencies looking to exempt themselves from the building permit process. The ad hoc committee intends to look at the various agency drivers, challenges with the approach, and brainstorm possible solutions. The Resilience Committee will be a collaborative effort with the American Planning Association (APA) to investigate the challenges regarding climate change, in particular sea level rise. The committee will focus on developing an approach to help position Hawaii to withstand or recover quickly from the effects of climate change. These are challenges that will require our professional community to decipher through. Consider being a part of this movement and make a difference. To learn more about these committees or to become a member, please reach out to me at kyle@tlcghawaii.com.
Lastly, I continue to encourage all of our members to consider supporting the Kāpili Maui scholarship fund as it works towards its goal of raising $50k. Donations towards the Kāpili Maui scholarship fund will help support the Maui families affected by the August 2023 fires and help the keiki of Maui obtain their dreams.