Chriselle Galapon

Assistant Thermal Systems Engineer

National Solar Observatory - Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope

At the end of the day, it's all you. Who cares what other people think? You have to do what makes you happy.

About Chriselle

When she was in high school, she took place in competitions building bridges, small planes, and rockets.
But when she started at community college, she didn’t really know what she wanted to do with her life.
Her family really wanted her to go to medical school, but she just felt lost.
When she transferred into the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, she thought she wanted to go into mechanical engineering.
The program proved to be difficult, so she took a year off; the break made her realize how much she missed engineering.
After returning and graduating, she wanted to stay near her family, but was worried there weren’t many opportunities for engineers in Maui.
She joined the Akamai Workforce Initiative, a networking/mentoring program for Hawaii’s scientific and technical workforce.
Through Akamai, she was able to find a career on Maui, working on the construction of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope.