Aloha Data: AI Hackathon for Hawaiʻi’s Resilience

The innovative and interdisciplinary nature of the event drew in more than 35 students from three campuses of the University of Hawaiʻi (UH Mānoa, UH Hilo and UH Maui College), who had the unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience tackling real-world challenges at the Aloha Data: AI Hackathon for Hawaiʻi’s Resilience.

UH Mānoa
UH Hilo
UH Maui College

These participants formed interdisciplinary teams to build data-driven solutions using Google Cloud AI tools, including Vertex AI. Five challenge topics pushed students to apply diverse skills toward local and statewide resilience efforts, such as:

Climate data visualization
Educational content generation
Conversational AI
Immersive technology for science communication

At the event, participants developed solutions to address various issues, such as:

Challenge Topic	Team Name	Solution
Climate Data Visualization	Untrained Parameters	Hawaiʻi Climate Explorer—an interactive web app that visualizes temperature and rainfall data from the Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal
Conversational AI	Kani	A climate-focused chatbot
Immersive Technology for Science Communication	TurtleyAwesome	Sheldon the Turtle, a 3D AI-powered museum-style guide for climate data

The prize-winning teams included Untrained Parameters, BruhMode, Kani, and TurtleyAwesome. These teams received prizes ranging from MacBook laptops and iPads to AR glasses and Google Cloud Platform credits. The first-place team, Untrained Parameters, created the Hawaiʻi Climate Explorer—an interactive web app that visualizes temperature and rainfall data from the Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal, a project led by UH experts. The team included PhD students Federica Chiti and Dhvanil Desai (Institute for Astronomy), Fahim Yasir (UH Cancer Center), Gerardo Rivera Tello (Department of Atmospheric Sciences), and master’s student Yada Ponpittayalert (College of Education). “

This was an incredible experience, highlighting the potential of large language models (a type of AI-trained model) for multimodal applications, even within a limited prototype developed in just three days,”

said Gerardo Rivera Tello, PhD student and team member of Untrained Parameters. Mentors from ITS, the Burwood Group, Water Resources Research Center, and Hawaiʻi Mesonet and Change Hawaiʻi supported students throughout the hackathon, offering technical guidance and real-world insights. Overall, the Aloha Data: AI Hackathon for Hawaiʻi’s Resilience provided students with a unique opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge in a real-world setting, and to gain hands-on experience with AI tools and technologies.

The Significance of the Event

The event not only provided students with a unique learning experience but also highlighted the potential of AI in addressing local and statewide resilience efforts. The five challenge topics pushed students to apply diverse skills, including:

Climate data analysis
Conversational AI
Data visualization
Machine learning

These skills are essential in addressing the complex challenges facing Hawaiʻi, such as climate change, sustainable development, and environmental conservation. The event demonstrated the potential of AI in supporting local and statewide resilience efforts, and highlighted the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation in addressing these challenges.

Conclusion

The Aloha Data: AI Hackathon for Hawaiʻi’s Resilience was a groundbreaking event that provided students with a unique opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge in a real-world setting. The event not only highlighted the potential of AI in addressing local and statewide resilience efforts but also demonstrated the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation in supporting these efforts. As the event continues to inspire and motivate students to pursue careers in AI and data science, it also sets the stage for future innovation and progress in supporting Hawaiʻi’s resilience efforts.