Highly visual event. Key times from 1 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, Mission Valley Marriott, San Diego

Press visuals opportunities: diverse engineering undergraduate students engaging with STEM industry professionals. Interactive workshops, mock interviews, hack-a-thon-esque activities.

San Diego, CA. Next week more than 200 diverse and driven undergrads will gather with STEM professionals for skill building and development. 

MESA’s Student Leadership Conference brings together hand-picked engineering and computer science students with industry professionals to develop the next generation of STEM leaders. After enduring a global pandemic causing significant education gaps for underrepresented groups, this year’s conference is more important than ever!

MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) is a college and career prep engine that propels student diversity and achievement in science, technology, engineering and math. MESA is administered by the University of California Office of the President.

Both students and companies benefit from the conference: students network and gain the soft skills needed to be well-rounded employees; companies gain access to talented, diverse candidates for internships and employment.

Companies recognize the importance of engaging with and supporting our students — so much so they fully fund the conference with donations.  These enlightened corporate partners understand these are not simply underserved and underrepresented students, they are an underutilized pool of talent that has been long overlooked.  Companies simply cannot afford to ignore this talent pool.

This year’s sponsors include: Edison International, Harris & Associates, Intel, Keysight, PG&E, Qualcomm, SDG&E and Uber. 

MESA alumna and astronaut Katya Echezarreta will be honored with the Ray Landis Impact Award for being a visionary in diversity and STEM education.

Student attendees are from the following campuses: UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, University of the Pacific, CSU Chico, CSU East Bay, CSU Fresno, CSU Long Beach, CSU Los Angeles, CSU Sacramento, San Diego State University, San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, Sonoma State University, University of Southern California, Allan Hancock College, Bakersfield College, Butte College, College of the Desert, College of the Sequoias, East Los Angeles College, El Camino College, Pasadena College, Phoenix College, Rio Hondo College, Santa Barbara City College, San Bernardino Valley College, San Diego City College, Southwestern College and Ventura College.    

MESA has been changing the face of science, technology and engineering by developing a new generation of STEM leaders for more than 50 years. Now with a network of more than 250,000 alumni, MESA fuels diversity by propelling historically underrepresented students toward STEM degrees and professional careers.

Each year MESA serves over 25,000 students at the pre-college, community college and university levels across California. We bridge classroom learning with real-world applications, and employ rigorous academics, leadership preparation, a peer community and collaborative problem-solving training to produce highly-skilled college graduates who meet 21st century STEM workforce needs.

The White House, the Ford Foundation, and the Silicon Valley Education Foundation have all

recognized MESA for its innovative and effective academic development model.

Find more information about the conference. For more information about MESA or follow us @MESASTEM.

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