Olivia was born and raised in Hilo on Hawaii Island. She graduated from Waiakea High School in 2016 as a valedictorian. She is a Regents Scholarship recipient at the University of Hawaii at Manoa where she is an Honors student majoring in Computer Science and currently enrolled in the Security Science track. She currently works with the Center on Disability Studies on the Ka Pilina grant, writing math and science lesson plans for grades K-8. She is also a college consultant with NexTech where she helps plan and run STEM workshops. After graduating, she hopes to stay in the field of Cyber Security. In her very limited free time, Olivia is an active team member of Pacific Roller Derby.

Home Island: Big Island

Institution when accepted: University of Hawaii at Manoa

Akamai Project: Construction of a Science Case Web Tool for TMT Science Cases

Project Site: Thirty Meter Telescope

Mentors: Dr. Warren Skidmore, Jake Llamas

Project Abstract:

Scientists from all over the world who would like to conduct observations using the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) have to submit a proposal including requirement information regarding their science program. Each proposed observation is referred to as a science case. There are two components to a science case: a high level description of the program (i.e. the scientific justification) and technical requirements and astronomical target information relating to the observations. These science case proposals provide the motivation for building the TMT observatory and the needs of those who would use it, thus help to determine the design for the entire observatory. The purpose of this project was to replace the old method of collecting this information by creating a web application where scientists can submit proposals. This application will create all future collections of science cases and compile the technical information so that it can be used by TMT design teams. This application was developed using the Ruby on Rails application framework, which utilizes Haml and Javascript. It needed to be integrated into the current TMT website and be accessible only by permitted users. Users can work with other scientists to create a new science case and add as many instrument configurations as necessary for each science case. This application has dynamic fields, which filter based on previous selections and acts as a form control. Using this new tool, applicants can fill out all necessary information, which will be stored in an exportable database and available for TMT design teams to manage. It is recommended that Thirty Meter Telescope implement a method within this application to import all previous science cases and create a public webpage that displays all approved science cases.