Paubox Kahikina Scholarship Recipient Montana Lagat: 2026 update

The Paubox Kahikina Scholarship helps Native Hawaiian students pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and Tech in general. Its purpose is to offer financial support and create a strong network for these students. The scholarship makes education more affordable and connects students with professionals, giving them valuable opportunities to learn and grow in their chosen STEM or Tech fields. This scholarship is about more than just money; it's about building a community and empowering Native Hawaiian students to succeed in STEM or Tech careers.

See also: The big ideas behind the Paubox Kahikina Scholarship

As a 2022 recipient, Lagat is now a graduating senior at Stanford University, majoring in Materials Science and Engineering. Here is a word from Montana Lagat:

“As an update from last year’s post, I completed my internship as a Community Development Intern at Shake Energy Collaborative in Honolulu, HI funded by the TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy at Stanford. This was a valuable opportunity for me to learn more about community-focused design of renewable energy infrastructure, which directly relates to my interest and research related to clean energy. I hope to continue supporting research related to energy storage, which could directly support Hawaiʻi’s goal of achieving 100% clean energy by 2045.

As I approach the end of my senior year at Stanford, I am feeling more excited to further develop as a scientist and engineer in new learning environments!”

As part of her senior year update, this is what Montana had to say:

“This academic year, I completed my honors thesis titled, ‘Optimization of Photoresin and Processing Conditions for 3D-Printed Pyrolyzed Lattice Electrodes with High Carbon Yield and Electrochemical Performance’. This work focuses on advancing 3D-printed electrodes that overcome challenges with existing carbon-based battery materials by using an alternative fabrication approach. The main motivation behind this research is to enable more accurate modeling of battery systems through deterministic ion flow pathways, which prevents uneven clogging and can lead to a better mechanistic understanding of electrochemical energy storage systems, like lithium-sulfur batteries. As part of the honors program, I also presented a poster summarizing the content of my thesis at the Materials Science Undergraduate Research Symposium. Part of this work has been published in the American Chemical Society’s Chemistry of Materials journal. Co-authoring this work was a useful opportunity for me to learn more about what strategies I can use to best present technical information and how framing my research as a story can contribute to effective communication.

I have also completed the Notation in Science Communication Program by finishing a capstone ePortfolio documenting my growth in science communication skills throughout my time at Stanford. Feel free to explore my portfolio to see how specific artifacts I have produced over time demonstrate my understanding of the importance of genre, context, and audience to effective science communication. I will be graduating with honors this June and am excited to visit home during the summer before starting my post-grad career!”

Montana also wrote on her next steps and Paubox’s impact, stating, “This fall, I will be a first-year PhD student at University of Colorado, Boulder in the Materials Science and Engineering Department. I hope to advance materials research related to perovskite tandem solar cells and potentially contribute to work at the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR, previously NREL) in the future! More specifically, I plan to improve the stability of perovskite cells, which is one of the largest barriers to the technology’s commercialization.

By obtaining my PhD, I hope to become either a professor of Materials Science and Engineering or lead research projects in climate tech at a startup or other company in industry. In addition to gaining technical expertise in my field, I hope to produce scientific information, whether in the form of scholarly articles or poster presentations, that is more accessible for general audiences.

I appreciate the support of Hoala Greevy and the Paubox Kahikina STEM Scholarship as I continue my academic career pursuing an advanced degree. Mahalo!”

Read more: Paubox Kahikina Scholarship Recipient Reflection | Montana Lagat