Join us for another night of Astronomy on Tap Hawaiʻi at Hale Kanikapila on Wednesday, August 12, from 7:00 to 9:00p! Test your knowledge in the quiz (prizes included, of course), enjoy pupus and drinks from Hale K, and listen to talks from our guest speakers: Branden Allen, UH College of Engineering faculty and project lead for the Space Science and Engineering Initiative, and Thales Gutke, UH computational astrophysicist and former NASA fellow at Princeton.
Click below to learn more about our guest speakers and their talks:
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I will introduce the University of Hawai’i Space Science and Engineering Initiative (SSEI), our research programs aimed at expanding Hawai’i involvement and leadership in spaceflight programs, and the pre-engineering program: a partnership between UH Hilo and UH Manoa designed to expand education and research opportunities to underserved areas within the state.
Dr. Branden Allen is a Professor of Engineering at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa who serves as the program lead for the Space Science and Engineering Initiative (SSEI), a multi-island interdisciplinary research center that aims to expand education and research opportunities throughout the state of Hawai’i. He is an Astronomer and Planetary Scientist who has spent the bulk of his career at the intersection of detector and telescope development; aerospace and electrical engineering; and the space sciences. -
From spectacular movies of galaxies forming to viral questions like “Are there people living inside the simulation?”, cosmological simulations capture the imagination. But what are they actually simulating? Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at how I create virtual universes—and why leaving things out is the key to understanding the real one.
Thales Gutcke is a computational astrophysicist at the University of Hawaiʻi and used to hold a NASA fellowship at Princeton. Her research uses state-of-the-art simulations to explore how galaxies form, how the first stars shaped the Universe, and what dark matter really is. When she’s not building virtual universes, she paddles for Puna Canoe Club and takes care of her almost 2-year-old.