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WCIT Architecture wins business award

WCIT Architecture and principals Robert Iopa, Lawrence Cunha Jr., Daniel Kanekuni and Mark Higa were recognized by the Small Business Administration as Oahu's best small business for 2008 for their innovative projects.

WCIT's recent local projects include Starwood Vacation Ownership's Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort, Sheraton Keauhou Resort and Spa, Sheraton Waikiki Hotel & Resort, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and the Residences at Kapalua Bay.

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation gave the University of Hawaii a $12,500 grant to help people with disabilities become more integrated into society. The funds will be used to complete a DVD, "A Video Guide to Dressing an Immobile Patient," in English, Chinese and Japanese.

Bernard Kratky, a horticulturalist at the Beaumont Agricultural Research Center in Hilo under the University of Hawaii at Manoa, won the Best Paper Award from the American Society for Plasticulture on a new method of growing lettuce hydroponically.

His current projects also include development of a hydroponic method for growing vegetables that discourages mosquitoes; ralstonia control in ginger; and the hydroponic production of watercress.

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