The Akamai Workforce Initiative is led by ISEE, in partnership with University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. ISEE and Akamai are legacies of the Center for Adaptive Optics, and are headquartered at the University of California Observatories, at the UC Santa Cruz campus.

Hawai‘i observatories are a vital resource for learning about the universe, our own climate, and satellites orbiting Earth. Observatory facilities bring rewarding jobs to Hawai‘i, and communities that host observatories should benefit from those jobs. 

For more than 20 years, the Akamai Workforce Initiative (or “Akamai”) has been building a local STEM workforce to support Hawai‘i observatories and their surrounding science and technology industry.

More about Akamai:

• Internships at observatories and the surrounding industry
• Mentor Workshop
• Mentor Council
• Akamai is funded by multiple sources.

Akamai has an extensive network of observatories and companies dedicated to bringing local students into local jobs. Some of Akamai accomplishments (more impacts HERE):

• Close to 500 college students from Hawai‘i have done Akamai internships since 2003
• 88% of alumni are still in science and engineering
• Over 125 alumni have already obtained science and engineering jobs in Hawai‘i
• Akamai earned a presidential award for excellence in mentoring (PAESMEM)