Getting Involved

Why join SCEL?

We strive to create a lab where students can learn and apply the knowledge they have gained from classes to a real life application. In addition to this, we also hope to equip our students with professional skills essential for their careers after school. Overall, we work toward developing well rounded students ready for success after college.

Technical EE/CompE Skills
One of the main reasons our lab exists is to provide students a place to practice their technical skills and learn additional skills. This lab is a great place to apply what you learned in your classes and transform them into something real. We have a lot of EE related topics like PCB design, circuit design, signal processing and programming.

Networking
We provide our students opportunities to network with professors and students within as well as outside the EE department. We also regularly talk with people in industry to gain insights and advice on how to improve our project or new technologies we should consider using. Within the lab, we also hold team outings and activities.

Professional Development
We prepare our students for their careers after college in the professional field. In our lab, students work on their communication and presentation skills as well as how to work on a team.

Leadership
We are always looking for the next generation of leaders in our lab. Working on the leadership team provides our students with valuable experience in project management, organization, and time management.

Papers and Conferences
Our lab has successfully published several papers, and we have sent a few students to conferences on the mainland.

Wikipedia defines a laboratory as “a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed”.

When you join a research lab, you can expect to make contributions to some sort of a research project or experiment. In the engineering department, there are more direct projects rather than experimental projects. Research topics can be very broad and encompass many different disciplines.

Research labs also act as a bridge between classroom learning and practical application. Such labs usually have a technical theme to them; the concepts and theory taught in classrooms can be just as important as the practical application of those concepts.

Often, research labs operate more like engineering teams that accomplish a specific goal. For example, a lab might have a contract with a company to produce some sort of experimental product.

It's easy to get involved with our lab! We are always looking for bright, motivated, and enthusiastic students who are interested in our lab. The following are the steps to follow to get involved:

• Look at our website for open positions.
  • The positions on our website will give you a better idea of the type of work we do and what you would be doing if you joined our lab. Various skills are listed under each position. The listed skills are not necessarily required for you to have experience in prior to working in our lab. You can think of these as skills you will have acquired after working in our lab. Look through our open positions and choose a couple you would be interested in.
• Contact us.
  • After you have found a couple positions you are interested in, email us! It would be best to contact the project manager by email, and include the following information:
    • Your name
    • Your class standing
    • Major and track (if you know)
    • Positions you are interested in
    • Why you would like to join our lab
• Meet with us.
  • We will respond within a week to your email, and set up a time to meet with you. It will be an informal meeting to get to know more about you and your interests.
  • It would be good to bring the following with you to the meeting:
    • A resume that includes your project experience and classes you have taken
    • Any questions you have for us

The following are various positions in our lab, and the skills associated with them. We do not expect students to possess all the skills listed for the positions. As with any engineering project, you may not have knowledge of everything, but you learn as you go. We just require the students in our lab to be willing to put the time and effort into learning. So don't be discouraged to try for a position even if you don't have all the skills needed. Look at the list of skills as techniques and tools you will acquire and deepen your knowledge in as you go.

Here are the positions that are available .

• Smart Campus Energy Lab
  • 2540 Dole Street, Holmes Hall 493, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA
  • [email protected]

• Principal Investigator: Dr. Anthony Kuh
  • Office: POST 205E
  • Email: kuh_at_hawaii.edu
• Project Manager: Christie Obatake
  • Email: cobatake_at_hawaii.edu
• Systems Engineer and Software Lead: Kenny Luong
  • Email: luong97_at_hawaii.edu