Over the course of a year, students from current MESA programs participate in fun, hands-on learning activities and mini-projects in pairs or small groups. Students then work with MESA teachers to identify a real-world problem or challenge grounded in STEM, and create a viable solution that meets a UN Sustainability Development Goal (SDG).
These student projects are showcased and judged at our regional competition: MESA Day, which takes place on campus at WSU Vancouver. The middle and high school teams who win our regional competition then move forward to the State competition that takes place in Seattle, Washington. This annual MESA Day competition brings together top middle and high school MESA teams from across the state to pitch their human centered design solutions to address inequities impacting their communities. The state competition winning middle and high schools then compete at the MESA USA NEDC competition.
Components of the MESA challenge include:
- Design Proposal—The objective of the Design Proposal is to provide a brief, non-technical overview of the inspiration for the project and proposed solution. It should only include information from the start of the project until the first design idea. Students must use the provided Design Proposal Template.
- Academic Poster - The objective of the Poster is to provide an overview of the project, highlight key points of the design process, discuss relevant testing and data collection, present the resulting prototype, and share recommendations for further development. Students will prepare a printed academic poster, which will be used during a public poster symposium to provide an overview of the project and the prototype.
- Technical Pitch—The objective of the Technical Pitch is to allow students to establish their technical knowledge while providing an overview of their design process and demonstrating their prototype functionality.
- Symposium - The objective of the symposium is to engage an audience in a conversation about the team’s design and decision-making process. Students will share a verbal abstract of their project and be available to answer judges’ questions and discuss their project using supporting material to emphasize their points in a conference-like setting.