Six University of Hawaii graduate students have received $10,000 awards from the Soroptimist International Founder Region.

Local Soroptimist International clubs of Central Oahu, Honolulu and Waikiki Foundation Inc., along with Soroptimist International of Arcata from Northern California, hosted a region conference April 29-May 1 in Waikiki.

The UH students, among eight to receive fellowships worth $10,000 each at the conference, are Laurie Chu, astronomy; Yukie Lloyd, tropical medicine; Tammy Martin, social welfare; Marlee Elston, biology/zoology; Leanne Fox, biomedical clinical research; and Jessica Maxfield, biology/zoology. Also receiving awards were University of California, Berkeley, graduate students Nicole Duncan, physics, and Meghan Zuck, infectious diseases.

In late May the Moss Foundation donated $50,000 to the Hawai‘i Community Foundation to improve academic performance and reduce the risk of dropping out of school among Hawaii’s youth, and to increase the number of homeless families placed in stable housing, a news release said.

Moss & Associates is a leading privately held construction firm headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The company encourages its employees to strengthen the relationships they have in the areas where they work and live and find ways to enhance the community and environment around them.

Waianae resident and Nanakuli High and Intermediate School graduate Galilee Kamai won a $10,000 college scholarship from Operating Engineers Local 3.

Kamai, daughter of Local 3 member Gregory Kamai, graduated at the top of her class a year early. She served as vice president of the National Honor Society and president of the student council, and participated in the Global Youth Leadership Hiroshima Student Visitation program, which welcomes students from Japan.

Kamai will be attending Seattle University this fall. She plans to go to law school once she completes her undergraduate studies.

Operating Engineers Local 3 represents about 35,000 heavy-equipment operators and other workers in construction, public works and law enforcement.

A team from the University of Hawaii at Manoa won third prize in the Tongji International Construction Festival’s 10th “Feng Yu Zhu Cup” Design and Construction Competition in Shanghai.

The School of Architecture undergraduates were recognized for their “Grassroots House” project, which ranked sixth in the first round of jury voting and received a third-place prize in the final round. The entry was also named “most popular with children,” according to a UH news release.

Team members are Chloe Bennie, Jannah Dela Cruz, Janica Domingo, Angus Lin and Richard Robinson, and their instructor is architecture assistant professor Hongtao Zhou.

Nearly 60 teams and more than 500 architecture students and faculty from around the world were invited to compete in the four-day design and construction challenge in Shanghai. This year marked the festival’s 10th anniversary.