More than 600 middle and high school students from across Oahu are expected to gather at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center on Tuesday morning for a hands-on crash course in STEM careers, from shipbuilding to advanced manufacturing. The USA Science Festival's X-STEM Workshops are scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to noon, with an opening blessing scheduled for 9:30 a.m., and will bring together students in grades 7 through 12 from classrooms across the island.
The event, set to be held in Honolulu, will introduce students to civilian careers in engineering, advanced manufacturing, electronics, shipbuilding and other STEM-related fields, according to Hawaii News Now. Organizers said the goal is twofold: inspire students to pursue career opportunities available right here in Hawaii while helping address workforce shortages in the nation's defense industry.
Industry Partners Lead the Hands-On Sessions
Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Pacific Shipyards International and the University of Hawaiʻi College of Engineering are set to lead the hands-on activities at Tuesday's workshops, per the same report. The lineup reflects a now-familiar pattern of local shipyard outreach to students — in July 2025, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility teamed up with the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum for a separate outreach event, giving more than 100 Honolulu Community College Summer CTE Academy students exposure to trades, engineering and STEM, with a mobile crane simulator, according to DVIDS.
The expected turnout would mark a sizable jump from last year, when organizers described the workshops as Hawaii's largest single-day STEM event after drawing more than 450 students, the station's report states. This year's expected attendance of more than 600 students suggests the event's footprint on Oahu continues to grow.
A Statewide Push to Build Local Talent
The X-STEM Workshops tie into a broader program called STEMworks, which began in 2000 as a pilot on Maui and has since expanded to every island, reaching 29 schools and more than 40,000 students and teachers annually, according to USA Science Festival. The organization also points students toward Build Freedom U.S., a resource for exploring skilled-trades career pathways, training and scholarships.
That expansion mirrors a wider state effort to connect Hawaii's classrooms to defense and manufacturing jobs. Through partnerships among educators, industry and the Department of Defense, the state is working to build a skilled local workforce to fill high-demand careers and strengthen national security, according to the Hawaii Military Affairs, Security and Readiness Council, which reported that MACRO recently secured $650,000 from the State Legislature to advance STEM, cybersecurity and trade workforce development in K-12 schools.
Separately, Hawaii's Department of Labor and Industrial Relations has released statewide employment projections through 2034 to help guide workforce planning, according to the agency's research and statistics office. A Hawaii Defense Economy action plan has also examined workforce needs touching on technicians, architectural and civil drafters and engineers, underscoring the range of roles the state hopes events like Tuesday's workshops can eventually help fill.
