Brian Dote
20 FOR THE NEXT 20 2017: HAWAII’S PEOPLE TO WATCH
Hawaii
Business magazine
March, 2017
BRIAN DOTE
Chief Innovation Officer,
Mid-Pacific Institute
Age: 44
Each year, Hawaii Business recognizes
20 people who we believe will have a major impact on Hawaii over the next two
decades. They have already proven themselves by their accomplishments,
intelligence, charisma, leadership and passion, but we expect even more from
them in the future. They come from all walks of life: the business community,
nonprofits and government.
In the
late 1990s, after Brian Dote graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a
master of science in information systems, he did what everyone else in his
industry was doing: moved to Silicon Valley in pursuit of dot com dreams.
After jobs
that included working with the company sequencing the human genome and web
development in the era of DSL internet, Dote was hired at Apple. With
Apple, Dote worked on the early development of what is now iCloud and was
selected to build software for the first two generations of iPhones.
Dote and
his family eventually moved back to Hawaii and, in 2014, he was hired at
Mid-Pacific Institute, where he uses the skills he learned in Silicon Valley to
introduce the next generation to technology. In addition to running the school’s
tech department, Dote keeps up with emerging technologies and decides what to
integrate into the classroom.
Under his leadership, Mid-Pac was an early adopter of
virtual-reality tech. Through a partnership with HTC Vive, Mid-Pac students
captured 360-degree footage of Pearl Harbor and helped create Vive’s Pearl
Harbor experience, which immerses a viewer in the events leading up to and the
bombing of the harbor.
Mid-Pac president Paul Turnbull says, “In Brian you have the
best of both worlds. (He is) someone who can open those doors, but he also
understands how kids learn and develop,” Turnbull says.
Dote’s next big project is looking at getting artificial
intelligence and machine learning into the school. “What I think we can achieve is that Hawaii will have sort of
commercializable success in emerging technologies from our students: Our
students creating businesses and high-tech companies in our technology space.”
Brian Receiving His Award |
Brian and wife Karen (left) enjoying the festivities |
2017 "20 for the Next 20" Award Winners |