VNR: Innovative stormwater drainage solutions from UH engineering, industry collaboration

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Marc Arakaki, (808) 228-3215
Content Producer, UH Communications
Posted: May 27, 2021



Link to video and sound (details below): https://bit.ly/3hWZwKC

WHO: Ten University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa students with industry mentors designed real-world stormwater management solutions for Waipahu High School. 

WHY: Stormwater runoff is precipitation that does not get absorbed by the ground and flows into sewers and streams, eventually leading to the ocean. The water is untreated and has collected pesticides, dirt, debris and physical and chemical pollutants. Most of this water flows from developed areas, such as buildings and pavements. Hawaiʻi’s growing population has made stormwater runoff a pressing issue in our state. 

HOW: The Community Innovation Mentorship Program divided UH students into two teams, the computer engineering team and the civil engineering team. 

The computer engineering team was tasked with calculating stormwater utility fees for Waipahu High School. The team developed a prototype website that allows property owners, including the Hawaiʻi Department of Education, to calculate their stormwater utility fees and see how they may fluctuate if they build additional structures on their property. 

The civil engineering team developed best management practices for stormwater runoff to decrease the amount of impermeable (not allowing fluid to pass through) area and sediments in the runoff, and increase the stormwater capacity. Their solution included upgrading the stormwater system to increase the amount of water it can hold, suggesting hybrid parking lots and trenches, and adding vegetation to existing dirt patches. 

WHERE: UH Mānoa and Waipahu High School 

ADDITIONAL DETAILS: 

  • The Community Innovation Mentorship Program culminated in a ceremony at the Entrepreneurs Sandbox featuring students and their mentors, Gov. David Ige and other representatives on May 21.

  • A team of five Waipahu HS students assisted with data collection.

  • Mark Osman from DataHouse mentored the computer engineering team and John Chung from Belt Collins Hawaii mentored the civil engineering team.

 

VIDEO BROLL: (1 minute, 30 seconds)

0:00-0:13 - Certificate presentation and ceremony

0:13-0:51 - Students working at Waipahu HS

0:51-1:30 - CIMP 2.0 final presentation

 

SOUNDBITES: 

Tsz Ching Wong, UH Mānoa computer engineering student

(17 seconds)

“I think this is a real-word experience for me because in the past, I didn’t really have the chance to work with students from different departments, but in this project we were able to work with the civil team, even Waipahu High School, those students and then employees from DataHouse.”

Mark Osman, DataHouse Project Manager

(13 seconds)

“There’s no more hiding behind iPads or computer screens because we really push the concept of thought, connection, communication, accountability, which really becomes paramount to the real world setting.”