Hawai’i Asphalt Paving Industry rewards two UH students

This year’s recipients of the much sought after Hawai’i Asphalt Paving Industry (HAPI) Scholarship are two outstanding students at the UH College of Engineering.

Donovan Fujii is a sophomore at the University of Hawaii at Manoa pursuing a degree in civil engineering. Interning at Austin, Tsutsumi & Associates, Inc., he has learned a great deal about asphalt paving and its utilization in our state’s roadways, parking lots and driveways. He seeks to create long-lasting, sustainable changes for our communities’ roads. While he understands that asphalt is not invincible, he believes that experimenting with new asphalt mixtures along with improvements in the asphalt surface course, base, subbase, and subgrade levels, will result in better and safer roads for the community.

He is following in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps, who are both Civil Engineering graduates from the University of Hawaii. He plans to dedicate his career to improving the lives of Hawai’i residents through engineering.

Mackelan Dax Mitchell is a sophomore at the University of Hawaii at Manoa pursuing a degree in civil engineering. Civil engineering has always been a part of his life ever since he was a child. His father is a geologist who works at the geotechnical engineering company Geolabs, Inc. (Maui office). He tagged along with his father to many jobsites and was introduced to laboratory equipment and tests at an early age. He was very interested in the work his father was doing and could see that it was important work. Inspired by his father and exposure to his work, he decided to study civil engineering. He is grateful to have an internship at Geolabs, Inc. where he has learned a lot about asphalt pavements.

He feels that his early exposure to road engineering and other foundational engineering, and his current work as an intern, has inspired him to make civil engineering his career.

HAPI represents asphalt pavement producers and laydown contractors in the State of Hawai’i as well as design consultants and industries related to pavement preservation. Formed in 1989, HAPI’s purpose is to provide engineering promotion and education to advance the continuing use of asphalt pavement and pavement treatments throughout the State of Hawai’i. HAPI collects and disseminates technical data and guidelines, sponsors educational and technical seminars, and is available to assist architects, engineers, and contractors responsible for the design and construction of asphalt pavements and pavement treatments. HAPI and its member firms constantly strive to improve the quality of asphalt paved roads. http://www.hawaiiasphalt.org/