[ HAWAII AT WORK ]
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Oceanit taps
eclectic techIan Kitajima relishes the
challenges of promoting
cutting-edge engineeringI'm not the cable guy.
Most regular people have never heard of Oceanit, the company I work for as marketing manager. Most people mistake us for the cable company with the cartoon mascot, or sometimes for the nonprofit ocean research company near Sea Life Park.
Based on our name, most people can guess that we do ocean-related work. What's not so obvious is that Oceanit creates technologies to track objects in space, to monitor the sewers of Oahu like a complex subway, to convert sea water into fresh drinking water, to fabricate custom optics for telescopes on Haleakala and to monitor your health using technology similar to Dr. McCoy's sick-bay bed in "Star Trek."
I probably have one of the best jobs in Hawaii's growing technology industry. I'm never bored. I get to work with lots of smart people who have lots of letters after their names. I often say that I'm the dumbest guy in the company, but I get to learn and play with all kinds of cool technologies we develop. This is the perfect job for anyone who is easily bored.
When someone asks me, "So, what's new at Oceanit?" my response is always, "Everything!" At Oceanit we burn high-octane fuel consistently, and that's the way we like it.
I joined Oceanit in June 2001 after returning home to Hawaii from Finland. One thing that I really miss is the Finnish equivalent of the Japanese furo -- the sauna, where you throw cold water on red-hot coals, causing a blast of steam so hot you're forced to relax to avoid being cooked alive. During the winter, forget the beaches unless you're a polar bear, and definitely no Spam musubis to be found anywhere. The closest substitute for local-kine grinds was to eat Chinese food for lunch every day -- which I did for a year. I've been lucky to travel around the world, and the one thing I've learned is that I live in the greatest place in the world, in the greatest country in the world. And I married the greatest local girl -- she's from Farrington.
So what do I do in my role at Oceanit? Essentially, I tell stories so people can learn about us. My job is get people to say, "I want to work with Oceanit," and then make it as easy as possible for them to do it. The second part of my job is to get them to say, "I want to work with Oceanit again!"
Also, I'm hoping that when people know more about Oceanit, I won't get asked the price for the HBO combo package or the free setup promotion for Internet service. No more "beep, beep," please. I'm not the cable guy.
