Hawaii's public university system opened the fall term with strong outside research money flowing in, good news for the state economy and for students looking for paid research work.

• The University of Hawaii system pulled in $647 million in outside research grants, with more than half a billion of that at Manoa.
• Fears that federal funding cuts would hit the university did not play out — last year set a record.
• That grant money hires graduate students, engineers and support staff, and then spreads into local stores, schools and car dealerships.
• Current projects include AI tools for earlier cancer detection in Asian and Pacific Islander patients, invasive species and bird disease work, wildfire resilience, water supply, and a new engineering institute aimed at easing island traffic.
• Manoa postponed its first-day welcome event because of possible weather from tropical storm Mo.

Outlook: The university expects research funding to keep growing, with new leadership focused on helping faculty win more grants.