Kalani Danas Rivera’s speech from the Spring ’18 Convocation

First of all, I would like to congratulate all of the graduates here tonight. We graduated! Thank you, God, we did it! Graduating with a degree in engineering is no easy task. No matter how long it took you to get here tonight, the important thing is that you finished what you started. Not only did you endure the academic rigor of the engineering curriculum, but you also overcame challenges unique to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Some of these challenges include: battling traffic, finding parking spots, and not having your moped stolen on a weekly basis. Despite the challenges you came out on top! So once again, congratulations!

Although we are gathered here tonight to celebrate our accomplishments at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, unfortunately many people in our state of Hawaiʻi tend to look down upon our institution. They often say, “well, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is no MIT, Harvard, or Stanford”. And they’re right, those schools have been around for a long, long time and have gained a prestigious reputation because of it. However, from my undergraduate experiences, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa offers opportunities of the same caliber of those prestigious schools in the forms of student design and research projects.

In my own case, I became a part of the University of Hawaiʻi Drone Technologies student project which focuses on developing drones and drone technologies to conduct the “Search” portion of Search and Rescue missions. Due to it being a Vertically Integrated Project, I was able to join as a sophomore and continue until the end of my senior year. Through my involvement in this project I was able to co-author two publications: one being an article in an engineering magazine and the other being an engineering conference paper. This opportunity then opened the doors for more opportunities beyond the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in the form of internships. Last summer, I served as a research intern in the area of 3D printing at the Missouri University of Science and Technology alongside students from prestigious universities. In addition, throughout my senior year, I served as an intern in the Combat Systems Division of Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and provided assistance in maintaining our US Naval Fleet “Fit to Fight”. Once again, there are countless opportunities here at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and it’s really up to you what you want to make of it.

All of my undergraduate education and experiences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa have led to a desire in graduate education. I’m happy to say that I have been accepted and will be pursuing a PhD in Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University in the Fall. My goal is to one day become a university engineering professor to equip, inspire, and provide opportunities for the next generation of the world’s engineers. And this has all been made possible by the opportunities and education offered here at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Next, I would like to acknowledge the people who have helped me get to where I am standing here tonight, the first of which is my family. This next portion is directly addressed to them:

Mama, papa, y mi hermana Katriana

Yo les quiero dar las gracias por siempre apoyarme en todo lo que he hecho, desde que era nino hasta ahora. Tambien les quiero dar las gracias por mantenerme siempre en sus oraciones.

Los amo y los quiero mucho! Que Dios me los cuide siempre.

As I mentioned earlier, the engineering curriculum can be extremely demanding and challenging for students. But the beautiful thing about it is that you realize that every engineering student is going through the exact same thing, and because of it you start working together on projects and homework assignments. And before you know it, friendships have been made. I guarantee to you that 40 years many of you will forget what you have learned in your undergraduate engineering classes, but you WON’T forget the memories and experiences you shared with the friends you made here at the College of Engineering. In closing, I want to thank all of you here tonight for your attention. God Bless!