Off The Grid
Henk Rogers, Hawaii Business' CEO of the year, does not follow conventions - he ignores or breaks them. Henk Rogers is an unusual choice for Hawaii Business magazine’s CEO of the Year. Past CEOs of the Year have led some…
Technology
Inside the Mind of an Entrepreneur
In the high-tech gold rush of modern Silicon Valley, the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success.” That’s how HBO describes its buzzy TV show, “Silicon Valley,” but is this characterization true? Ryan Louie shed…
Ocean-Friendly Bioplastics Made from Industrial Waste
Final bioplastic product: The Miss Sissi lamp. More info: tinyur.com/hnei-bioplastic UH researcher got help from microorganisms to invent green product The Creator Jian Yu didn’t set out to find a way to re-use organic waste. When he first moved to…
O‘ahu is in a Geological Sweet Spot for Fresh Water. Here’s Why
We looked into the story of the island’s freshwater, including where it comes from, how good it is and whether we’re taking care of it.
Ask The Expert: Should I Upgrade to Windows 10 or Wait?
QUESTION: Now that Windows 10 is out, I’m wondering: Should I upgrade or wait? Our company is small and doesn’t have a lot of resources or IT expertise. ANSWER: Since its release in July, there have been tens of millions of…
8 Ways to Get More Women Into S.T.E.M.
Phuong-Thao Nguyen’s work at Hawaiian Telcom will affect everyone in the state. It’s important to maintain the passion that first drew you to STEM, says Phuong-Thao Nguyen of Hawaiian Telcom. “Passion is your sense of curiosity,…
Who Should Own Hawaiian Electric?
There must be blood in the water. Until last year, when Hawaiian Electric Industries announced its intent to merge with Florida energy giant NextEra, the company seemed like a permanent fixture of the local economy. Only a few zealous renewable-energy…
Talk Story with Scott Barber, President and CEO, Hawaiian Telcom
Barber had been Hawaiian Telcom’s COO since 2013. He was promoted this June when former CEO Eric Yeaman left for First Hawaiian Bank. Your career began more than three decades ago as a phone company lineworker in California. What was…
Parting Shot: Solar Dry Dock
Friday 9:54 AM University of Hawaii Hangar, Kalaeloa Airport Photo by Odeelo Dayondon The Solar Impulse airplane will spend the winter in Hawaii, after completing the longest and most challenging leg of its…
Innovation: Good FIT for Chinese Students
Creator and His Product Richard Xie came to Hawaii for an MBA at Hawaii Pacific University and never returned to his native China. After graduation and a few stints in marketing for local wholesale businesses, he set out on his…
Stars Above Hawaii
IF YOU'VE SEEN the moon, the rings of Saturn and other galaxies in sci-fi movies, you should check them out in reality. Stars Above Hawaii offers twice-nightly tours with its powerful telescopes and other equipment from the Ko Olina Resort. The…
Catchafire
N onprofits always need specialized help at an affordable price. Meanwhile, skilled professionals want meaningful volunteer opportunities that go beyond stuffing envelopes. Rachael Chong says Catchafire solves both issues with a database that connects businesspeople’s skills with nonprofits’ needs. Catchafire’s…
Re-Energized
W Hen Iolani Palace’s monthly power bill doubled to more than $41,000 last fall, even drastic steps like cutting off the air conditioning in the adjacent barracks couldn’t bring costs back to where they had been just a few months…
Multimedia Innovator
Jay Fidell didn’t set out to be a journalist. The founder of the ThinkTech Hawaii arrived here from New York in 1965 as a Coast Guard lawyer and military judge. “It was the time of Vietnam, and war was in…
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Green
WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU COMBINE ELEMENTS OF THE 19TH, 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES? Start with the U.S. government’s oldest scientific agency, with roots stretching back to the early 1800s; add historic Ford Island aircraft hangars that survived the…
What’s Next for Solar
If you ever use a waste-burning toilet, don’t be surprised if you find out a solar-power company installed it. That’s one of the technologies being investigated by RevoluSun, a Honolulu-based solar company that has expanded its “Smart Home” division, offering…
Talk Story: Omar and Tarik Sultan
The Sultan brothers are a major new force in Hawaii’s venture capital and startup communities. Their two platforms are Sultan Ventures, a Hawaii-based venture capital firm, and XLR8UH. Last year, the two of you and UH launched XLR8UH, a public-private…
Is Your Job In Danger?
A reliable cell phone signal is still hard to find in the sleepy town of Kaunakakai, but the robots have arrived. Kim Svetin’s family owns Molokai Drugs, the island’s only drugstore. Behind the counter, it’s Svetin’s Uncle Jon, her…
Hawaiian Telecom Bringing More Bandwith To The Islands
“When we log onto our computers to check email, buy something from Amazon or watch a movie on Netflix, it seems almost magical. We don’t see the inner workings that make this happen. What enables all of these things we…
These Canoes Virtually Connect UH Campuses
At UH, you can walk into a classroom on the West Oahu campus to take a course on video game development with students who are 20 miles away in Manoa. Forget what you thought you knew about distance learning. These…
Editor's Note: The Sacredness of Mauna Kea
It is obvious to anyone who has been there or seen it shining in the distance, that the summit of Mauna Kea is a sacred place. Native Hawaiians are not unique in this reverence: Virtually all the great religions venerate…
When Disaster Strikes, MERCI Responds
The App Mobile Emergency Response and Command Interface, aptly called MERCI, is an app developed by Oceanit Laboratories Inc. that streamlines the documentation of disasters to speed recovery and relief. All on one device, MERCI allows people to record the…
Natural Energy Lab Fosters its Own Startup Paradise
I believe the Hawaiian people have been given a tremendous gift from Pele and that gift is this access to deep ocean water,” says Rich Bailey, owner of Dewpoint Systems. The gift of deep ocean water may be Pele’s, but…
More Efficient Power
In the hospitality world, it’s not just hotel guests who win points and rewards. The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas on Kauai’s North Shore earned a bonus when it installed a system that delivers electricity more efficiently and comes with…