Updated at 4:22 p.m., Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Lingle recognizes first Innovation Awards recipients
Advertiser Staff
Gov. Linda Lingle today recognized three recipients of the first Governor's Innovation Awards for their ingenuity and commitment to developing creative ways to improve Hawai'i and help the state meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Lingle initiated the Governor's Innovation Award to acknowledge and encourage innovation across all sectors statewide. The awards, which are being presented monthly, recognize individuals, companies, nonprofits, organizations and government agencies that are developing innovative products, services and ways of doing things. The first honorees of the Governor's Innovation Award are: Innovation by an Individual: Kelson Lau. Lau, a junior at Waiakea High School, has used his knowledge and expertise in robotics to help further science, technology, engineering and math education in his school. Lau has been participating in robotics since the 7th grade, and his innovative robot designs, which incorporate practical applications of STEM education, have led the Waiakea robotics team to victory in state, national and international championships. Lau's micro-robot won first place in the Big Island Regional Science Fair. He has served as a mentor for his fellow students and helped lead the Waiakea team when it competed in an international micro-robotics in Nagoya, Japan, in 2007. The team's one-cubic-inch robot, the size of a quarter, captured a first-place prize in the category of fully autonomous, or self-guided robots. Lau has recently been selected for the NASA INSPIRE program for this summer, where he will intern alongside NASA engineers. Innovation by an Organization: Pacific Biodiesel, Inc. Headquartered in Kahului, Maui, Pacific Biodiesel, Inc. was conceived in 1995 in response to environmental and health concerns surrounding unmanageable quantities of used cooking oil and grease trap residue at the Central Maui Landfill. Robert and Kelly King, then owners of King Diesel, the company that maintains the landfill's generators, proposed converting restaurant waste into biodiesel that would fuel the generators. Within a year, the Kings established one of the first commercially viable biodiesel plants in the United States. The company currently has two plants – one on Maui and one on O'ahu – that process more than 1 million gallons of waste cooking oil per year. This includes nearly 100 percent of commercial cooking oil on Maui and nearly 60 percent on O'ahu. Pacific Biodiesel has exported its innovative technology to Japan and throughout the U.S. The company has built 10 biodiesel plants to date, and has recently established a separate technology division, Pacific Biodiesel Technologies, to support further research and development in this field. Innovation in Government: Department of Accounting and General Services, Information and Community Services Division. When given a broad charge of increasing accessibility and ease of navigation for state department Web sites, the ICSD Public Information Access Section developed innovative solutions. By creating the "Stay Connected to Your State Government" feature, the team built an easy-to-use system for Hawai'i's residents and visitors to access government information. Internet users are now able to navigate seamlessly from one state department Web site to another and back again. The team was also responsible for the redesign of 16 state department Web sites within a six-month timeframe. The department websites were customized to meet the specific communication needs of each department and their attached agencies, and designed to facilitate the availability and access of information most frequently sought by the public. The ICSD team includes: Karen Higa, David Takashima, Bryce Fujie, John Prescador, Vic Macapagal and Dan Knezek. Governor's Innovation Award nominees were evaluated by a 15-member selection panel comprising industry, education and government representatives statewide. Nominations were submitted online and were judged on creativity; effectiveness in achieving a goal or purpose; transferability and adoptability by others; and significance in addressing an important local or global issue, problem or opportunity. The selection committee provided final recommended nominations to Lingle for her selection.
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