PISCES Launches Summer Internships

Five summer interns have been recruited by the Pacific International Space Center. A cooperative work-study program with the University of Hawai’i at Hilo is also in the works.

The recruitment is part of a workforce development and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education initiative that aims to promote 21^st century jobs in Hawai’i.

For 10 weeks, interns will participate in three projects: planetary analogue test site surveys, robotics, and “space” construction, which includes building a 10-meter lunar landing pad using volcanic basalt.

Through the program, PISCES aims to provide interns with a valuable and unique work experience that can serve as a stepping stone to greater opportunities. Two previous PISCES interns, Melissa Adams and Christina Cauley, have since been selected for prestigious NASA internships.

“I see my PISCES internship as a pivotal stepping stone that has propelled me to having amazing opportunities,” Adams, who interned at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in 2014 said.

A summer 2014 PISCES intern, Cauley was recently awarded an OSSSI internship grant from NASA to participate in the Good Earth Project at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Cauley, who graduated from UH-Hilo, will get the opportunity to work with data from a new sensory instrument aboard the International Space Station for international humanitarian purposes.

In the fall, PISCES will begin a cooperative education program with UH-Hilo. Real world work experience will supplement students’ classroom learning in the program. Students in computer science, engineering, physics, and astronomy fields will be eligible for full-time paid work in an alternating semester-on/semester-off cycle. Candidate selection is still being finalized by PISCES.