Gemini Supports Local Schools with Computer Donations

For most institutions, including Gemini, hardware has a relatively short life-cycle. It can be expensive to upkeep older computers and if an older computer fails, years of valuable research and/or information is lost. This is why Gemini generally replaces its computer hardware every three to four years.

However, for Tim Minick, Gemini’s Information Systems Group Manager, putting old but still well-working machinery through the metal shredder seems like a waste.

“For me it’s personal. I know what it’s like to go through school and not have enough equipment. We do this in support of education.”

Gemini partners with Hawai‘i Community College (HCC) and other public and charter schools such as Hilo’s Connections Charter school and Waiakea High School to donate computer hardware. At Gemini South a similar program is in the process of development.

Most recently, Gemini donated 13 computers to Waiakea High School which will help support a partnership with the Department of Education where students use Gemini data to create images and learn about image processing. The repurposed computers, pictured below, are a mix of PCs, Macs, laptops, and desktops.

For more information on how how your local (Hawai‘i and Chile) organization can work with Gemini for future donations, contact Tim Minick at: (808) 947-2504 or via email at: tminick”at”gemini.edu  .