University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa women’s volleyball player Rika Okino was named the 2020 Hawaii Council of Engineering Societies Student Engineer of the Year.
The redshirt junior from Honolulu has interned with AECOM and Wilson Okamoto Corp., working on projects involving aspects of geotechnical design at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, and water retention and runoff on various Hawaiʻi entities.
Okino came to UH Mānoa as one of Kalani High School’s Class of 2016 valedictorians. Since then, she has been recognized as a 2019 Big West Academic All-Conference selection and is a four-year UH scholar-athlete.
On the volleyball court, Okino was the Rainbow Wahine starting libero this past season, appearing in 29 matches and recording career highs of 256 digs, 81 assists and 14 service aces. Okino was one of the leaders of the 2019 Rainbow Wahine squad, which advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
Okino, who redshirted as a freshman, will forego her final year of eligibility in 2020 since she is expected to graduate this May with a degree in civil engineering. She is looking forward to beginning her professional career with Wilson Okamoto Corp. upon graduation.
Read more details at the UH Mānoa Athletics website.
—By Marc Arakaki
