Positioning the Hawaiʻi Project Center for the Future
Partner organization: WPI Hawaiʻi Project Center
Team members: Abraham Dionne, Olivia Diorio, Jackson Lingo, Evangelos Loukedes
Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Hawaiʻi Project Center (HPC) builds partnerships between WPI faculty members, students, and local organizations, or project partners, to research and support community challenges. This study aims to assess and improve the impact of the HPC on both students and project partners, while strengthening local marketing efforts and the dissemination of student research. 
Interviews and surveys with former project partners and students revealed that while partners valued student research, many lacked the ability to fully implement deliverables. Students showed growth in understanding cultural and societal issues.
A feedback survey was created to track the project’s impact on both project partners and students at the conclusion of each project. Additionally, to improve local marketing, past project partners shared their methods of contact and advertisement amongst local community organizations and identified potential new project partners.
Informed by research on dissemination methods and expert interviews, the open-access journal WPI
Pūnāwai was established to showcase student articles.