Panelist 1:

Aaron Kagawa is the co-founder of Second Wave Technologies and an Engineering Director at a global technology startup, Kentik Technologies Inc. He has extensive experience in startups that have grown valuations and received venture capital investments. An experienced software engineer, he has been heavily involved in STEM education and nonprofit work. He helped kickstart the Altino Coding effort, training Hawaii’s educators in computer science.

Panelist 2:

Amber Imai-Hong is an Avionics Engineer and Program Manager for the Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory. She graduated with her B.S. in Electrical Engineering with a focus on Electrophysics in 2012 and has been working with HSFL on spacecraft design, development, testing, and community educational outreach. Over the past 16 years, she has worked on eleven spacecraft projects, three suborbital payloads, mentored several student teams who worked on the development and testing of spacecraft systems and components.

During Amber’s undergraduate career, she gained experience in the On-Board Computer, Electrical Power, and Payload systems, and was the Assistant Project Manager for UH Manoa’s NanoSat-6 Ho`oponopono team. At HSFL, she has continued to do avionics work and environmental testing. She also leads HSFL’s community and educational outreach projects, and is Program Director for the Undergraduate Small Satellite projects including the Artemis CubeSat Kit.

Panelist 3:

Nicole Cacal is a highly regarded leader in the entrepreneurship, business strategy, and innovation fields. She is the Founder and CEO of Forbes Ignite, a consultancy advising global companies on how to innovate at the intersection of technology, sustainability, and social impact (Forbes Ignite is a license partner of Forbes Media, LLC). She has worked with companies like American Express, Salesforce, Accenture, and Colgate.

Nicole is also a strategic advisor to small businesses in Hawaii, with a mission to demystify the complexities of digital technology and make innovation strategies accessible to all.

Nicole is also the Founder and Executive Director of Katalista , a non-profit organization that supports entrepreneurship in the Filipino American community.

A dedicated lecturer at the Parsons School of Design and a visiting professor at the Pratt Institute, Nicole teaches courses on social innovation and strategic technology to the next generation of leaders. She is a Virtual Professional-in-Residence at the University of Hawaii’s Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE). She also engages in-depth conversations with mission-driven individuals who are redefining success through the Forbes Ignite podcast, “Inner Wealth.”

Nicole is an accomplished keynote and TEDx speaker on topics like Reciprocal Mentorship.

Nicole holds a BBA in Finance & International Business from the University of Hawaii, an MSc in Strategic Design & Management from the Parsons School of Design, and an MSc in Technology Management from Columbia University.”

Panelist 4:

Brody Uehara is a Data Engineer at kWh Analytics, a venture-backed InsurTech startup. He previously worked at an endowment fund, developing their investment analytics platform, and interned on the trading team of a quantitative hedge fund. On the side, he runs a small software development agency.

Brody holds a BA in Computer Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii.