PCF— Economic Development Day, part I

The day began at Oceanit an engineering consulting, aerospace and defense, life sciences, and information technology company located on Fort Street Mall in downtown Honolulu. Founded in 1985 by Dr. Pat Sullivan and employing over 160 employess, they are at the cutting edge of innovation in various fields. They see themselves as a think tank/idea factory/incubator— a blank canvas with only legal and moral boundaries.

The Oceanit philosophy, as explained by Ian Kitajima, focuses on certain beliefs represented by a concentric circles emanating out from a core:
At the center of the diagram is pain as opportunity— the bigger the pain the greater the opportunity, solutions to problems, chaos as a good thing.
Next they look to their people and the values and character they bring to the organization. Many of their employees are found at community service events and they must be flexible and comfortable with ambiguity.
Then capital which comes from venture capitalists, city/state/federal governments, and partners.
Finally, they in "letting go," not holding onto the past so that they can be open to new perspectives, ideas, and funding streams.
The specific challenges they face in Hawai'i is getting non-federal funding so that they can productize their discoveries.

We then heard from Glenn Nakafuiji about his particular story going from Kalani high school to various other innovative technology ventures and then back to Hawaii and Oceanit. We witnessed specific breakthroughs the company has achieved in defense related challenges, nano-technology and materials, medical technologies (Hoana Medical, Life Gurney), synergies with natural systems, and rail security and infrastructure vulnerability.

Dr. pat Sullivan himself graced us with some of his very valuable time to share even more insights into their guiding philosophies:
— Take ideas out of the ether and turn them into solutions.
— The biggest impediment is ourselves.
— Innovations are about differences, not similarities.
— Don't race to the bottom to compete with the Chinese on low-cost manufacturing...innovate!!!
— We must be techno-warriors and connect our hearts with our heads.
— Lack of domain expertise allows for greater creativity (lack of Beltway thinking).

All in all an amazing examination of a truly groundbreaking organization that chooses to locate its headquarters in Hawaii when it could be located anywhere in the world.