Akamai Internship Program

///Akamai Internship Program

TMT is a cornerstone supporter of the Akamai Workforce Initiative, which provides college students with summer internships at observatories and other high-tech companies in Hawaii. The goal of the program is to advance Hawaii college students in STEM and increase underrepresented groups.

Each student is matched with a mentor and is integrated as a member of the mentor’s group with daily guidance. Akamai mentors are prepared to provide an experience that will support their intern’s persistence in STEM, while they complete a real project valued by their host organization, through a unique mentor workshop. The careful attention to mentoring, the preparatory course, and an ongoing communication course, are important elements of the program and have been key to the program’s success.

Since launching in 2003, more than 350 college students have participated in the Akamai program and at least 150 alumni are now working in science and technology jobs, with nearly two-thirds of them working in Hawaii and contributing to the local STEM workforce. Akamai accepts college students from Hawaii (80% graduated from a Hawaii high school or were born in Hawaii), and a key objective is to increase the participation of underrepresented and underserved populations in STEM. So far, the Akamai Workforce Initiative alumni demographics include 36% women, 25% Native Hawaiian, and 47% underrepresented minorities. To learn more about the summer internship program, go to www.akamaihawaii.org.

The Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory has become Akamai’s cornerstone supporter. This year, funding is also provided by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, National Solar Observatory, Hawaii STEM Learning Partnership at Hawaii Community Foundation (with support from multiple sources, including the THINK Fund and the Maunakea Fund), and the National Science Foundation. Akamai is managed by the Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators at University of California, Santa Cruz.

The Akamai Workforce Initiative alumni demographics include:
36% women
25% Native Hawaiian
47% underrepresented minorities

Shareables

FORMER AKAMAI INTERNS

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Heather is an Akamai intern at Gemini in Hilo, she chats with Scott about what she’s learned and what she’s working on at Gemini.

Meet Elton, an #akamai intern working at Gemini Observatory. #ImuaTMT

Jennifer Chun, intern at Submillimeter Array, she chats with Scott about what she’s doing and what she’s learned while being an Akamai INtern.

We chat with Dallas Tada an intern at Gemini Observatory working on a database to categorize discoveries made from the observations at the telescopes.

We chat with Chris Stark, mentor to Elton Nakagawa and Dallas Tada about his experiences with Akamai Interns.

Meet Junhao, a local Hilo boy interning at Subaru Telescope who took part in #akamai2017. #ImuaTMT #WeSupportTMT

We end our Hilo series of #Akamai2017 interns with Katie who interned at the Subaru Telescope. Katie is from Maui, and she talks with Scott about what she’s learned, what she hopes to do in the future and why programs like the Akamai work force initiative are important for students like her. Thanks for watching, if you’d like to learn more, go to maunakeaandtmt.org

Meet Daryl from Hilo, who interned at our #TMT HQ in Pasadena during the #akamai2017 summer internship season. We had a chance to talk story with him while he was on the mainland, and here’s what he learned, saw and did while he was there. #ImuaTMT #WeSupportTMT Isee Ucsc

University of Hawaii at Manoa student Akira from Honolulu, interned at our Pasadena HQ over the summer. His project was to optimize a ray tracing program. Hear what he learned, experienced… ate while he was in Pasadena. #AkamaiInternship #Intern #Akamai Isee Ucsc

In the last of our Pasadena videos, we meet #Akamai2017 Intern Reyn from Hilo. #ImuaTMT