HPA senior earns Award for Aspirations in Computing

Erin Evans, a senior at Hawaii Preparatory Academy, has received the 2016 Hawaii Regional NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing. The award, sponsored by the National Center for Women and Information Technology and the Department of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, recognizes young high school women for their computing-related achievements and interests.

A total of 16 award-winners were selected from high schools across Hawaii for their outstanding aptitude and interest in information technology and computing, solid leadership ability, good academic history, and plans for post-secondary education. The students were recognized at an award ceremony Monday at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.

At HPA’s Energy Lab, Evan’s projects have included building a gaming console using emulation station and a Raspberry Pi, restoring two nonworking golf carts and converting them to run on solar power, and creating a radio frequency identification check-in system to launch campus-wide. The RFID system will allow students to check in to their classes by swiping a card allowing the user/teacher to receive email notification of who was in class that day.

Evans also was a starter on the girls soccer team, which won three consecutive DII state championships. She also has competed in cross country and currently competes in water polo.

“Erin is a synthetic, integrative thinker, who brings together many disparate ideas into a solution that might never have been tried,” said HPA Energy Lab director Dr. Bill Wiecking, who has worked with Evans for the past four years. “Erin brings a nonlinear approach to her problems, and will certainly enrich the projects and teams she joins in the future. Erin finds challenges enriching, an admirable trait in any explorer.”

Info: ncwit.org.