Ryan Lagon is among this year's honorees of Pacific Business News’ annual Inno Under 25 awards. To see the other winners, click here.
Ryan Lagon
Age: 17
A senior at Kamehameha Schools, Ryan Lagon said he is “passionate about all things technology,” and he spent his summer interning at tech education nonprofit Purple Maia Foundation, conducting research in machine learning.
“I’m working to develop a deep learning model that can predict surgical outcomes for Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, Alaska Natives, and American Indian people. The goal is to evaluate the model that I create against widely used methods such as regression and see if it produces better results,” he said of his project.
“In general, I want to find ways to benefit and help others, so I saw this as the perfect project to pursue,” he added.
He is also a senior patrol leader for his Boy Scout troop, and this school year he said he plans to join the math and debate teams.
What accomplishment are you most proud of to date?
My proudest accomplishment is becoming a tutor for my peers. In and out of school, I often help others with understanding subjects such as math, science and programming. For about a year and a half now, I’ve made it a point to dedicate time to helping others, and I feel really good about that. It’s something I plan to continue, helping to uplift others so they can succeed as well.
What is your favorite part of what you do?
I think my favorite part of what I do is learning. I’m passionate about being able to acquire new knowledge and working with a project like this helped me to pick up a lot of new things along the way. Additionally, I’ve liked being able to work on a project that’s a little more than my usual, smaller-scale independent projects. The project has been very beneficial in terms of getting actual experience, which I definitely can see myself using later on in my career.
How do you envision the future — what is next for you, and what is your ultimate career goal?
Soon, I plan to go away for college, majoring in computer science, and possibly a minor in data science. After college, if everything works out, I plan to come back to Hawaii and start my longer-term career here. I don’t have an “ultimate career goal” yet, but in general, I know that I want … to provide something good for the world, to help others. I’m not sure what that’ll look like yet, but I’m optimistic things will work out.
The “brain drain” has long been an issue for Hawaii. What do you think the state needs to retain its younger workforce?
I think one — if not the largest — problem driving people away is the high cost of living. I believe a lot of these younger people who can bring a lot to the table are forced to move away simply because it’s so difficult to afford to live here. I worry about this exact problem as well. … For a solution, I think the most important thing is finding ways to connect brilliant youth to workplaces and jobs they can thrive in and contribute to, essentially just to get their foot in the door and have a solid start to their career in Hawaii. I believe there are already organizations doing this, so that’s a step in the right direction.
