Fall 2025 URI Symposium

Group Photo of the Students, Mentors, and Associate Directors 

On Saturday, November 22, 2025, the Hawaiʻi Space Grant Consortium (HSGC) held its Fall 2025 University Research Internship Symposium at Leeward Community College. Undergraduate interns and trainee Interns across the University of Hawaiʻi System presented projects spanning rocketry, CubeSats, astronomy, rover systems, and advanced materials research.

Projects on display included efforts to improve hybrid rocket engines, design CubeSat propulsion systems, and develop payloads for national programs such as NASA’s RockOn workshop, RockSat, and the American Astronautical Society’s CanSat Competition. Students have also presented on star formation in distant galaxies using Keck and JWST data, redesigning the control system for the Helelani rover, and engineering satellite platforms and resin components for future space missions.

This symposium was amazing, and we hope to see you at the next Symposium!

Brief List of Student Presenters

Windward Community College –  “Continuing Project Imua Efforts at Windward Community College”

  • Christopher Klapperich
  • Chase Fox
  • Beckham Richards
  • Ryan Vanairsdale

Honolulu Community College –  “Project Imua Mission 15: Muon Detection for RockSat 2026”

  • Kara Walker
  • Ryan Vanairsdale
  • Kristen Chang
  • Teal Hoffman

UH Maui College – “RockOn Workshop 2025”

  • Joshua Moralez
  • Forrest Stolmeie

UH Maui College – Trainee Interns, “CanSat 2026 Competition”

  • Elijah Custer
  • Zachary Montondo
  • Sebastian McDougal
  • Jordan Dalessandro
  • Rell Fitch (volunteer)
  • Joshua Moralez
  • Forrest Stolmeier
  • Julian Malecha

UH Hilo – “Determining Star Formation Rates in Medium Redshift Galaxies Using OSIRIS IFU Spectra”

  • Paige Matheson

UH Hilo – “Helelani Rover Control System Redesign”

  • Joseph Winkie

UH Mānoa – “Regression Rate of CAMUI Hybrid Rocket Engines”

  • Joaquin Natividad

UH Mānoa – “Hybrid CubeSat Propulsion System”

  • Sean Raymund Palacay
  • Lance Bacalso
  • TJ Magofna

UH Mānoa – “AERIS: FARAAD – Fabrication of Additive Resin Apparatuses for Advanced Detectors”

  • Kaolin Randall
  • James Chang
  • Jai Ceraso

UH Mānoa – “AERIS: SPATIUM – Satellite Platform for Attitude, Telemetry, Integration, Uplink, and Management”

  • Kenoi Salvador
  • Keegan Canine
  • Charlotte Downie
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