UH Student Applies Engineering Skills to W. M. Keck Observatory Project

Kaʻala Deitch, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, is finding his path at the intersection of science, culture, and service. A graduate of Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, Kaʻala’s early education in Hawaiian language immersion gave him more than just fluency. It grounded him with a strong sense of place and purpose.

In 2023, Kaʻala joined the W. M. Keck Observatory through the Akamai Workforce Initiative, which places local students in STEM internships across Hawaiʻi. His project focused on redesigning a key platform on the Keck II telescope. The original had been removed after interfering with sensitive cabling beneath the telescope’s rotating structure. His challenge was to create a new platform that kept people safe and equipment protected.

Without existing models of the area, Kaʻala started from scratch. He took careful measurements, built 3D models, and ran structural tests. His final design redirected weight away from fragile components and offered a safe, functional solution. The observatory invited him back the following summer to refine the design and help prepare it for future implementation.

Kaʻala’s impact extended beyond engineering. He also participated in meetings with outreach and donor audiences, helping share the observatory’s work with the broader community. With his local roots and clear sense of kuleana, he helped bridge conversations between science and the people it serves.

Now in his final undergraduate semester, Kaʻala is researching thermal systems for ground and space-based applications through the Space Science and Engineering Initiative at UH Mānoa. This fall, he will continue into the university’s master’s program in mechanical engineering.

His long-term goal is to return to Hawaiʻi Island as a professor to grow future engineers. He hopes to create more opportunities for kamaʻāina students to see themselves in STEM and build their careers here in Hawai‘i.

“Ka‘ala stands out to me because of his drive as a descendant of the greatest engineers of the Pacific: the ancestors who built capable canoes, voyaged them to Hawai‘i, and built infrastructure in harmony with nature to sustain a population for generations,” said Ilihia Gionson, Chief Public Affairs Officer at W. M. Keck Observatory and a fellow Nāwahī alumnus. “His journey is notable in that he uses his foundation of cultural fluency to elevate ancestral wisdom to its rightful place in STEM, and that he plans to bring the next generation along for the ride.”