FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 28, 2019
Danielle McNamara
510.987.0230
More than 700 middle and high school students will create machines, crush bridges and code robotic arms in hopes of capturing a win during MESA’s hands-on math, engineering and science competition championships Saturday, April 13th at the Bourns Technology Center in Riverside.
Students will participate in the MESA Day Finals Southern Regional STEM Championship. They have already competed against thousands of other MESA students during preliminary competitions, and hope to keep the winning streak going.
Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Days are geared to showcase students’ math and science know-how. These future technical professionals have spent months creating and designing math and science projects.
The events include launching gliders, testing the strength of bridges, and evaluating human centered design projects, and help to solidify the core math, science and engineering skills students learn in class. The competitions bridge classroom learning with real-world application and encourage students to think beyond what they learn in physics, calculus or geometry.
These experiences are particularly poignant for MESA students who attend low-performing schools, come from low socio-economic background and are typically the first in their families to attend college.
Industry volunteers will judge events and Laura Diaz of KKTV Fox11 will give a keynote speech.
WHAT: MESA Regional STEM Championship
[su_row][su_column size=”1/3″]8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
9:05 a.m. – 9:25 a.m.
9:30 a.m. – 10:35 a.m.
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
[/su_column][su_column size=”1/3″]Arrival (Bourns Parking Area)
Opening Ceremony (Bourns Auditorium)
MESA Think Tank (CE-CERT Admin Building)
Hands-on competitions including:
MESA Machine (Bourns Courtyard)
Prosthetic Arm (Room 100)
Arduino engineering project (Room 103)
Engineering Activities (Bourns Hall of Innovation)
Lunch (Bourns Parking Area)
Award Ceremony (Bourns Auditorium)
[/su_column][su_column size=”1/3″]
[/su_column][/su_row]
WHERE: Bourns Technology Center – 1190 Columbia Avenue, Riverside, CA
Ample parking available
WHO: More than 700 middle- and high-school students
MESA fuels workforce diversity by creating and developing a new generation of science, technology, engineering and math leaders. Each year more than 25,000 underserved students benefit from the program’s award-winning model. MESA provides the critical support and resources required for these students to prepare for and pursue STEM degrees.
MESA is uniquely positioned to provide support at all educational levels from middle school through degree completion and works closely with industry. MESA’s success comes from a combination of academic support, hands-on learning, supportive student communities, career preparation and exposure and more. Since its inception in 1970, MESA has continued to maintain a strong partnership with industry, including Applied Materials, AT&T, Cisco, Google, Intel, Intuit, Lyft and Symantec.
MESA gets results. More than twice as many MESA high school seniors go to college compared to all California high school graduates (92% vs 41% respectively). Furthermore, 56% of MESA high school graduates go to college in STEM majors. More than two-thirds of MESA students are Latino, African American, American Indian or Pacific Islander.
For more information about MESA, visit mesa.ucop.edu.
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