[00:00] Excuse me. Yes. I just want to make sure—sorry, I had to leave for a moment—I just want to make sure: is what we're voting on what Regent Whitaker would like to pass? Yes. Okay.

[00:12] Okay. I'm glad that's all you need to know. Cha ir Aki Take. Aye. First Vice Chair Lee. Aye. Regent—sorry—Second Vice Chair Awamiya. Aye. Regent Abercrombie. Aye. Regent Fratas. Aye. Regent Gee. Aye. Regent Lederta. Aye. Regent Liu. Aye. Regent Nehera. Aye. Regent Tolchiki. Aye. Regent Whitaker. Aye. Chair, the motion is passed.

[00:38] Thank you. All right. We are going to take up what was on the consent agenda, number 5: board authorization of the University of Hawai'i to enter into agreements with the Hawai'i Technology Development Corporation for space at the Maui Research and Technology Center.

[00:56] We have —one moment —we have Vice President Brad Crist here. We also have Michael—do we have Michael Shibata in? Oh, all right. I'm not sure if you're seeing time, but he's here for questions as well. All right. Mr. Crist, could you address some of the concerns that were raised ?

[01:17] Absolutely. Good morning, Chair Aki Take, Regents, and President Hensel. So we received a set of questions, which we did respond last Wednesday, you know, one of which was asking about the community benefit. And the response, you know, included that , you know, the MAHPCC, you know, was originally an initiative of Senator Inoue and, you know, in operation since 1996.

[01:44] In 2001, the University of Hawai'i took over the operations and management of that facility from the University of New Mexico. You may be wondering why the University of New Mexico, the directorate that controls the AF—the Air Force Research Laboratory, is based at Kirkland Air Force Base, which is in Albuquerque.

[02:04] But after that successful contract, since then it has been the largest extramural contract in the history of the University of Hawai'i, over $300 million. And as noted, the current facility has been in place for approximately 20 years, which was —I do know that a number of Regents had the opportunity to still visit the facility a couple of years ago.

[02:32] You know, it's in an office park—it's an office building that was redesigned, you know, with a server room, right? So this isn't a large data center. It's not something like Amazon or Microsoft. It's—the actual facility itself is probably about the size of this room for hosting supercomputers. But it was an opportunity to see, you know, what the benefit is in terms of internships for the University of Hawai'i students, as well as employment on Maui for, you know, high-technology and researchers.

[03:05] The second question we received was , you know, regarding the AMLOS project. So the AMLOS project is entirely a project of the Air Force. It is not related to the AMLOS project. It is true that the directorate that manages, you know, the work—I should say the directorate that controls the AFRL, as well as the MAHPCC, you know, also is the one proposing the AMLOS project, but they are not related in terms of what they do.

[03:36] And for what the HPC Center actually does, I would actually refer to their website briefly here. So they do have a public website, and so it is the mission of HPC centers. And there are five of them in the United States, one in Maryland, which is overseen by Johns Hopkins University; two in Mississippi; and one in Ohio; and the fifth, of course, in Maui, associated with the AFRL.

[04:04] And so, you know, the mission of the HPC centers is the delivery of world-class, high-performance computational capabilities to the Department of War, Science and Technology, and Test and Evaluation communities. Each center hosts a robust complement of HPC capabilities—so high-performance computing—that include large-scale HPC systems, high-speed networks, multi-petabyte archival mass storage systems, and computational expertise.

[04:28] The latter being the individuals and folks, you know, who are at the center and provide support to researchers. And, you know, they provide quite a bit of public information about what goes on, as well as even for those authorized individuals to create accounts, get access, and be able to submit jobs. So if you're familiar with the way in which supercomputing works, you submit your jobs to a supercomputer, it gets scheduled, and then it gets executed.

[04:53] And that's to take full advantage. We, of course, run our own supercomputer, COA, and it works very similarly for UH researchers. They submit their jobs, they work with our staff—staff that work for me—and to be able to, you know, provide assistance in how and to run their computations for things ranging from climate models to weather models to , you know, biological and other types of life sciences.

[05:21] The third question we received was regarding water and power, current annual electricity use. The information that we received was that, you know, due to extensive, you know, photovoltaic systems, it's around in the range of 400 to 500 kilowatts, which is astonishingly low for a server facility. And then about 20 gallons a month in water, specifically for cooling, because that is a closed-loop system.

[05:46] So that, you know, the machines that are not air-cooled—so, you know, like your computer is air-cooled—a lot of HPC systems are water-cooled, but that water is recycled and then looped through and only added to or replaced as necessary. The fourth question was related to, you know, Building 590. You know, the University is not aware of the Air Force leasing space at 590 Lapoa Parkway.

[06:11] It is the University's understanding that the Air Force currently leases a facility at 550 Lapoa Parkway and will terminate that lease once the Air Force's new facility is constructed. UH will continue to operate the competing facilities at 590 Lapoa Parkway, as outlined in the Board Action Memorandum and, you know, under our O&M agreement that we currently have.

[06:30] So I do want to note that the request before the Board today is specific to the MAHPCC lease. It is not about the Amstars contract. My understanding is that that was approved in 2025, and that was a five-year award.

[06:49] Any questions, Regents? Regent Gee. Thank you. Thank you, Vice President Crist, for your answers to those questions. So one thing that you mentioned is specifically job opportunities for the Maui community, Hōle'i community, as well as internships for students.

[07:10] Could you talk a little bit about what has already been provided in terms of jobs and internships, and if there is anything in contract that says that those opportunities will for sure be provided?

[07:24] I'm not familiar with the contract itself, and so I can just tell you from my visit, as well as speaking with, you know, past President, you know, David Lastner and others, in terms of, you know, I did have an opportunity to meet with a number of folks who, you know, both, you know, are, you know, were—came for the opportunities, but then also, you know, are kama'aina, and, you know, had the opportunity to work in that particular field in terms of supercomputing, where there are, of course, limited opportunities, you know, beyond the University of Hawai'i and MAHPCC.

[07:56] I don't know the number of internships, but I did have an opportunity to talk with them about those internship opportunities that otherwise would not exist for UH students, you know, both certainly here at UH Manoa, but then also, you know, at Maui College. Thank you. And just a follow-up on that—or separate question, sorry— has the University also done a study or an observation on environmental impact of their facility—of the facility?

[08:28] I'm not aware of any, you know, environmental, you know, EAIS or environmental worksheet. You know, Michael might have a little bit more information about that.

[08:39] Because the—we're basically leasing an existing space in a building that we've occupied for over 20 years. We haven't done an, you know, an EA or EIS that would—that would be a trigger for the need to do that.

[08:51] You know, I think Vice President Crist did talk about the environmental—like the sustainability components that are in the building, with the cool—the chill—the cool water looping system, as well as the solar PV. But yeah, this is a—basically a—these are—we've been in this space for over 20 years. From my perspective, this is a lease for five years, with an option for another five.

[09:16] And, you know, what's—what's a trigger for you folks for review is the amount of the rent that's paid as part of the lease. Thank you, Mr. Shibata. Sorry, I'm still getting the ropes of everything, so thank you for clarifying. Thank you. Regent Abercrombie. Yes.

[09:32] Is it Dr. Crist? No, just a Mr. Okay. Your Director. Thank you. No. By way of full disclosure , it may come as a shock, given the way the Congress is operating these days, but there are, in fact, two houses associated with the United States Congress. No one has greater respect for the originality and initiative of Senator Inoue.

[10:01] But in 1996, when this project was first conceived, believe it or not, in order for it to pass, it had to go through the House of Representatives as well as the United States Senate Appropriations Committee. I was on the Armed Services Committee for 20 year s, and I'm thoroughly—as I say, by full disclosure, I'm thoroughly familiar with the passage of the legislation that created this ongoing legacy of grants for the Research and Initiative Division of our university system.

[10:48] I continue to be familiar with it . I—for benefit of the new Regents, the previous Board of Regents and the folks who were on it with me will affirm that we had a very extensive visit with the folks over there on Maui, including in-person interviews and discussions with interns. I don't know the exact number, but it's—it's—it's in the dozens, maybe—maybe more than that, over the past 20 years, as well as as researchers.

[11:27] And I want to commend the answers that you've put together because it accurately reflects what we intended—what the Senator and I intended in the 1990s when we put this together. And I want to assure everyone that the presence of the configurations—telescope configurations— is essential not just for the national defense, but for the research mission and infrastructure necessary to carry out that mission.

[12:09] And other numerous grants are able—and researchers are able—to take advantage of the facilities there and have done so for the past 20 years. So I want to—I've read—I've read all the testimony, word for word, that we've received, right up and including that which has been submitted earlier—last night or earlier today.

[12:35] And I believe that this presentation accurately and incisively and comprehensively not only answers legitimate questions that were raised in terms of public knowledge that should be available to one and all, but also very accurately describes what the mission of the configuration on Haleakala is all about. And I appreciate the thoroughness and the professionalism that you and your team have exhibited.

[13:13] And most particularly, I want to compliment Madam Chair and President Hansel—the leadership over there on Maui is superb. The morale of the folks that have benefited from being able to participate in the program, whether as interns or as researchers, could not be higher, could not be more satisfactory. Thank you.

[13:39] Thank you. Thank you. Regent Liu. Mr. Crist, you're not on. Thank you for your information. Would we be in violation of the underlying Amstars contract if we did not provide a lease base for the operations? There is, I think, potential. You know, I would say, you know, the—Michael might know more about the current situation.

[14:05] You know, my guess is probably month to month. But this, you know, the intent is to consolidate two former leases that were conducted under the Applied Research Laboratory under RCUH. My understanding is that that's no longer considered an appropriate vehicle for this lease, and so then it needs to move over to UH.

[14:24] But maybe Michael has more. Regent Liu. The current status, it's in a holdover position —holdover status. We are converting the leases to agreements between UH and the lessor, which is HTDC, Hawai'i Technology Development Corporation, in consistent with university protocols in terms of review and signing authority.

[14:55] And so if approved, the leases will start November 1st and will be for five years. And then for the Building B lease, there is an option for another five years.

[15:07] Thank you. Regent Whitaker. I know you've said this in a different way, but I just wanted to—want to be clear. So know that I was listening to what you said. So several testifiers described this as a lease with the Department of War. And as I read the materials, the agreements, again, are between UH and HTDC, which is a state agency, right?

[15:30] Mm-hmm. Okay. And it's for space that MAHPCC has used since 2005, and the federal government is not a party to that agreement, right? That is correct. Okay. And just so we understand the larger picture, how was the Amstars award approved and when does that come up for renewal?

[15:51] This was a little bit before my time. I joined in July 2025, but my understanding is that the Amstars contract was awarded in early 2025, and this body would have approved that. And it is a five-year award. And so I think that is what the intent is, to match the lease with the option to extend, you know, depending on, you know, what the Department of War decides.

[16:14] You know, in this particular case, the—during the information that I have is that a sole-source agreement was provided for this past renewal, but it may come up for a full RFP and proposal. And at that point, you know, other universities could—or entities could also compete to provide the O&M—the Operations and Management Agreement instead of the University of Hawai'i, as an example.

[16:40] But if it continued, that's, I think, where, you know, the option to extend the lease would be advantageous to the university. It sounds like there was an HRS 343 determination made that—and correct me if I'm wrong—but that there is an HRS 343 trigger for an environmental assessment, but an exception applies for continued use of an existing facility.

[17:10] Is that how you're interpreting that? Well, related to the lease, I mean, there are no improvements that are being done. Okay. That would trigger the— So you don't—so it's not—because the way you described it, it sounded like you are applying an exception for continuing existing use. But it sounds like now you're saying that you believe that there's no trigger under HRS 3435.

[17:39] That's my understanding. It's basically—this is just an office lease for continued use, because we're currently in the space as is. We're not making any changes to the existing space. It's just to allow —allow the program to continue to be there.

[17:53] Okay. So do you know which one it—which one it is? Is it—because if it's an exception for continuing existing use, then I think we need to state that on the record. But if there is no trigger —and maybe we need counsel to weigh in—if there's no trigger under HRS 3435, then that's different. Then I don't think we need to say that on the record.

[18:12] I'm not—yeah, so I'm not aware of any trigger. Okay. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Any further questions? So, VP Crist, you mentioned you had—you prepared written responses to a previous testifier who, it's my understanding, came to the Facilities and Long Range Planning Committee meeting where this was first discussed and provided testimony and written—were they written questions posed to the administration?

[18:43] That is correct. They were sent via email, and I replied last Wednesday. Would you make that available? You can get it to the Board Office, and we can make it publicly available for—of course. For everyone's benefit. All right. Thank you. Regent Abercrombie. Just one point of syntax, and you may have just spoken inadvertently, but it's important : our relationship is with the Department of Defens e.

[19:12] There is no such thing as a Department of War, except in the fantasy and imagination of some elements currently in Washington who will hopefully be removed . It is the Department of Defens e. Thank you. Thank you. Any further—Regent Gee. Thank you, Madam Chair. So I understand that really what the Board's doing today is just approving the lease and switching it from RCUH to the University of Hawai'i.

[19:40] I am curious, though—when I was reading through, I was kind of curious, like, what—is RCUH still going to have a presence on the site, or are they just fully being taken on?

[19:54] There are still RCUH employees. Okay. Yes. Thank you. Yep. Yep. Thank you. Anything further, Regents? Vice Chair Amamiya. Chair Akutake, I think Vice President Crist 's answers to the questions are included in the testimony. Right. Thank you. If I'm not mistaken, right? Yes, that is correct. Thank you. So noted. Anything further, Regents?

[20:21] All right. If not, may I have a motion to authorize the University of Hawai'i to enter into agreements with the Hawai'i Technology Development Corporation for space at the Maui Research and Technology Center? Regent Abercrombie moves.

[20:34] Regent Miyahira seconds. All right. Chair Akutake. Aye. First Vice Chair Lee. Aye. Second Vice Chair Amamiya. Aye. Regent Abercrombie. Aye. Regent Freitas. Aye. Regent Gee. Aye. Regent Lederta. Aye. Regent Liu. Aye. Regent Miyahira. Aye. Regent Tochiki. Aye. Regent Whitaker. Aye. Chair, the motion is passed. Thank you. All right. Thank you.

[21:00] Thank you. Moving on to.

Source transcript: TranscriptX.ai (English, 21:02)