Bonnie D. Irwin
New academic year, new programs and majors
This month the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo embarks on a new academic year, launching several new programs and majors. None of these opportunities for students would be possible without collaboration and partnering across traditional boundaries.
The new bachelor’s degree program in data science is designed for workforce preparation, formulated to address local and state needs in a data-driven knowledge economy. It is the first data science major in the UH System.
Data science deals with studying and analyzing sets of data through statistical measures that can be applied to many different fields of study. It is considered an interdisciplinary endeavor because almost every branch of science collects loads of data — big data — and each field needs experts for analyzing the mass amounts of information.
The program was launched in 2018 with a certificate in data science where students hone their data analysis skills by supporting the university’s active research faculty whose projects generate large amounts of data, such as investigations into coral reef health and studies on the impacts of climate change for our island, state, and region.
The new bachelor’s degree program in data science is an interdisciplinary degree, meaning it interfaces with other majors, where students build an in-depth skillset in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and statistics. Students will choose one of four tracks to specialize further: astronomy, business, statistics, or computational.
This means faculty teaching the skills of data science come from a wide range of programs including computer science, marine science, math, business administration, art, and geography. This interdisciplinary collaboration is the core of the program and of great benefit to our students.
In another program, we are partnering with UH Mānoa to create a strong pathway for Hawaiʻi Island students who wish to study engineering. They will still need to complete their degrees on Oʻahu, but they will get a solid start here in our physics and astronomy program.
The UH Hilo two-year pre-engineering program gives students a solid background in mathematics, physics, and chemistry, which are needed for any engineering degree. New UH Mānoa faculty based in Hilo will help by teaching some introductory engineering classes here on island. Students who complete the program will be ready to transfer to the degree-granting institution to study a wide range of fields including mechanical engineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, aeronautical engineering, system engineering, or software engineering among others.
Engineering is an important field in workforce development. Engineers are employed in every state and city, and by every major industry, and engineering graduates command among the highest starting salaries of all college graduates. This partnership with UH Mānoa will create many opportunities for UH Hilo students.
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