PARTNERS AND collaborators

Grants and Awards 

• Hawai'i Innovation Laboratory raised over $320,000 in pre-seed through national and local accelerator programs and won various national and local competitions. ​

Hawai'i Innovation laboratory in news

• Ten Innovative Teams Emerge Victorious in Round 4 of the American-Made Solar Prize (link).
• U of Hawai’i at Mānoa start-up advances technology to reduce solar power costs (link).
• UH Mānoa startup among national solar innovation semifinalists (link).
• University of Hawai'i Innovation story, Dr. Arif Rahman, Innovator and entrepreneur (link).
• Hawai'i Innovation Laboratory (HIL) selected for UH Venture Accelerator program in spring 2020 (link). 
• HIL co-founder Dr. Kareem Elassy received UH Mānoa, College of Engineering Outstanding PhD student award (link).
• HIL co-founder's inventions featured in Hawaii New Now (link). 
• HIL co-founders selected finalist for Hawaii Venture Capital Association's Awards 2018 and 2020, featured in UH news.
• HIL co-founders featured in Hawaii Public Radio, Bytemarks Cafe (link). 
• HIL co-founders and student team wins UH Mānoa Breakthrough Innovation Challenge in 2017, 2019, and 2020.

THE TEAM

arif rahman, phd
​Co-founder & CEO

Arif received double Bachelor of Science in Naval Science, and Electrical Engineering. Also, he received Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering focusing on Microfluidics, and Microfabrication. He is a Navy veteran and served onboard Navy ships as Weapon Engineering officer and Senior Electrical Engineer.  Arif has over 18 years of industry, and academic experience. He authored over 25 scientific publication and inventor of 4 patents. Arif is a Senior Member in IEEE, and Chair, YP Hawai'i affinity group. 

aaron ohta, phd
co-founder & CTO

Aaron has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. He has 11 years of experience in innovation, research, and teaching engineering courses. Aaron authored over 130 publications in the areas of microelectromechanical systems and microfluidics. Also, He is a co-inventor on 6 patents related to his research. He managed over $2 M in federal, state, and private research grants. 
​

kareem elassy, phd
co-founder 

Kareem received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from University of Hawaii where his research focus was on implementation of liquid-metal electronics. Prior to Ph.D., he worked on low-cost micro/nano fabrication research projects at the University of California Berkeley and Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. Currently, Kareem works as an R&D Engineer at Intel Corporation, along with pursuing his MBA.

nalu matthews
​CO-FOUNDER

Nalu received an MS-EE Degree in in 2018. He is a technological solution builder for space and earth application. Nalu is an electrical and RF engineer by training. Ensuring seamless transition of product from manufacturing to delivery. He is expert in design, fabrication, and application of microfabricated devices in wearables.  

wayne shiroma, phd
​CO-FOUNDER

Wayne received the B.S. degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the M.Eng. degree from Cornell University, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 1996, he joined the University of Hawaii, where he is currently a Professor of Electrical Engineering. He has published over 70 technical articles, contributed several book chapters, and is a co-inventor on three patents in the areas of retrodirective arrays, spatial power combining, and nanosatellites.

Team research area: Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), Micro-nanofabrication, Micro/nano/bio-robotics, Microfluidics, Optofluidics, Biomedical microdevices, Reconfigurable electronic, High-frequency circuit design, Next generation RF components, High frequency characterization of materials, Impedance spectroscopy, dielectric spectroscopy ​Cell and embryo culture, manipulation, micro-surgery, and cellular drug delivery.

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