Business Solution Technologies (BST) continues to provide two annual scholarships for seniors at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) College of Natural Sciences, Information and Computer Science (ICS) Department. The recipients for school year 2024-2025 are Kayla-Marie Torres (photo featured above) and Anson Leung.

Scott Robertson, Professor and Chair, UH Mānoa Information and Computer Sciences Department said, “The Information and Computer Sciences department is proud to be a partner with BST which provides generous annual scholarships and training internships to selected students. BST has helped launch many successful careers in computer science and related areas.”

The BST Scholarships for Excellence in Computer Science were initiated in the 2022-2023 school year and to date, six scholarships have been awarded to deserving students through the UH Foundation. Students applying for the annual scholarships are selected by the ICS Department staff in the spring semester for the following school year and asked to meet the following criteria: Be a graduate of a Hawai‘i high school; maintain a grade point average of 3.2 or higher; and be an active participant in ICS activities and campus affairs within the school and broader communities.

BST also provided nine scholarships to students of the UH Mānoa Shidler College of Business studying Management Information Systems (MIS) and Human Resources between 2017 and 2022.

“We have enjoyed the partnership with the ICS department to provide scholarships and internships for students. Several graduates have joined our training program and have become valued employees and software developers,” said John Weldon, President of BST.  “We also appreciate the dialogue between ICS department administration and staff to enhance their curriculum to meet the technology needs of our local businesses.”

For more information about applying for the annual BST scholarships or making a donation to support our students please contact the UH Foundation.

Congratulations to Charlie Robison (right) for recently completing his BST Spring Internship!

Colin Yu (left), BST Director of Technology, showed our support for Charlie at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Information and Computer Science Showcase Celebration on May 1, 2024. At the event, Charlie shared his experience and the valuable skills learned while working on projects during his internship.

Congratulations to our current Training Consultant Development Program (TCDP) members!

Nhan Bui (left) is completing her 2-year training program this summer. She shared, “One of the most impactful learnings came from collaborating with my experienced colleagues, which exposed me to a new level of problem-solving that broadened my perspective. The program also helped me step outside my comfort zone and communicate more effectively.”

Yhanessa Sales (right) entered the program last fall. “Transitioning from an intern to a full-time employee has been an educational and rewarding experience. During my internship, I had the opportunity to engage in hands-on programming, and I have continued to refine my technical abilities within the TCDP program,” said Yhanessa. “The mentorship I’ve received from my team members, with their diverse problem-solving approaches, encourages me to enhance my own skill set.” 

Both Nhan and Yhanessa participated in spring internships with BST and were invited into the TCDP program upon completing their undergraduate studies. BST internships are offered every spring semester to graduating seniors of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Information and Computer Science Department. The TCDP program is a paid, full-time 2-year training opportunity offered by BST.

Business Solution Technologies (BST) is sponsoring an internship program opportunity for rising seniors at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) College of Natural Sciences, Information and Computer Science (ICS) Department. The internship, developed by the ICS Department and BST, will be the first to directly connect students to the curriculum and capstone project required for graduation.

“As a Hawaii-based IT firm we’re proud to support this internship program with the ICS department that will not only give students the opportunity to meet their graduation requirements but more importantly, it will help to build a strong software development and IT workforce in Hawaii,” said John Weldon, President of BST. “At BST, we believe that it is important for the business community to step-up and engage with academia to help train our young people for demand professions, like technology, and prepare them for careers in Hawaii that are both high-skilled and high-paying job.”

The capstone project was recently added as a requirement to graduation for all University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UH Mānoa) computer science students receiving the Bachelor of Science (General) degree. In addition to the required curriculum, the capstone gives students experience on large-scale software development projects that both utilize skills learned in the classroom and provide experience with self-directed project management and ongoing client engagement.

The internship is a collaborative initiative between BST and the UH ICS Department that connects UH students with local companies in the hopes of encouraging them to stay and work in Hawaii after graduation. The long-term goal is to develop a Hawaii technical workforce that includes job opportunities in software and systems development, data sciences, artificial intelligence, IT infrastructure and other computational skills.

“We are thrilled to partner with Business Solution Technologies in this endeavor that connects our students’ software development capstone requirement to a real-world internship and provides them with a pathway to employment in Hawaii’s IT and computer science workforce. We hope that the model BST has pioneered with us can spread to other businesses throughout the state,” said Scott Robertson, Professor and Chair, ICS Department, College of Natural Sciences, UH Mānoa.

The BST internship is a paid opportunity with 10-12 hour per week and will run for one semester, with an option by BST to extend employment to the intern for placement into the BST Junior Development Program. BST has onboarded its first intern on Feb. 1, 2022.

To continue BST’s support of developing a software development and IT workforce in Hawaii, it has established the BST Scholarship for Excellence in Computer Science through the UH Foundation. Two annual scholarships will be awarded to graduating seniors who will earn a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from UH Mānoa. Its first scholarship will be awarded in May 2022 to rising seniors for the 2022-2023 school year.

For more information about the BST internship and scholarship, visit www.bstusa.com.

In August, BST designed and implemented enhancements to the Hawaii Department of Education’s (HIDOE) human resources system to enable HIDOE employees to self-report their vaccination status and if applicable, their COVID test results.

HIDOE employees are able to submit their vaccination status or test results by logging into the HIDOE secured network where employee will answer a series of questions and upload related documents. In addition, HIDOE’s leadership and COVID Response Team have access to reports to monitor information and respond as needed. BST designed the application with an automated workflow and associated email notification system to ensure the appropriate information was shared with the right people.

This initiative was developed in direct response to Governor David Ige’s Aug. 5, 2021 Executive Order that requires all State of Hawaii employees to be vaccinated or submit weekly COVID test results. BST was able to go live with the enhancements in 10 days to meet the state’s Aug. 16, 2021 deadline.

Since 2004 BST has served as HIDOE’s primary partner for maintaining employee data and systems. Earlier in the pandemic, BST built an application for HIDOE to track and report telework requests as the remote learning model was implemented across the state and employees were under a “Safer at Home” emergency order.

To date, BST has tailored the human resources systems of three client organizations to meet the specific needs of the executive order, which enables these companies to successfully collect and manage the vaccination and or testing status of their employees.

For more information about BST’s services, please contact Kevin Costa, Director, Education Solutions at kevin.costa@bstusa.com or 808-389-0996.

In the spirit of holiday giving, BST is pleased to be partnering with the UH Foundation to create two scholarships for deserving students at the Shidler College of Business at UH Manoa, who are working toward a degree in human resources management or information technology. Happy Holidays!

For more information on how you can support our local students, please visit: www.shidler.hawaii.edu/alumni/giving-opportunities.