VANCOUVER, Wash. – More than 130 middle and high school students from Evergreen and Vancouver school districts will be on the Washington State University Vancouver campus Saturday to compete in the Southwest Washington MESA Day Engineering Design Competition. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. April 2.
MESA Day provides students the opportunity to showcase their design, problem solving, mathematical and communication skills by competing in various activities. Students will demonstrate devices, display academic boards and give oral presentations. Saturday’s event will include STEM exhibits and workshops, the Prosthetic Arm Challenge and the Computer Application Challenge.
The general public is invited to watch the Prosthetic Arm Challenge from 9 a.m. to noon in the Firstenburg Student Commons and to view STEM exhibits from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Engineering and Computer Science Building free of charge.
The top-scoring student team will advance to the Statewide MESA Day competition sponsored by Microsoft and held at the Microsoft Conference Center in Redmond, Wash. They will compete with students from Tacoma/South Puget Sound, Seattle, Spokane, Yakima/Tri-Cities and First Nations for the opportunity to represent Washington at the MESA USA National Design Competition in Ogden, Utah in June.
About MESA
Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement is nationally recognized for its innovative and effective academic development program. The program provides enriching educational opportunities that help students build a pathway to college and careers in the science, technology, engineering and math fields. MESA’s goal is to reach students who are currently underrepresented in the STEM fields—African American, Latino, Pacific Islanders, Native American and girls. Southwest Washington MESA is housed at Â鶹´«Ã½. For more information, call Debbie Blas, director, at 360-546-9355.
About Â鶹´«Ã½
Â鶹´«Ã½ is located at 14204 N.E. Salmon Creek Ave. in Vancouver, east of the 134th Street exit from either I-5 or I-205, or via C-Tran bus service. Parking is free on weekends.
As one of four campuses of the Washington State University system, Â鶹´«Ã½ offers big-school resources in a small-school environment. The university provides affordable, high-quality baccalaureate- and graduate-level education to benefit the people and communities it serves. As the only four-year research university in Southwest Washington, Â鶹´«Ã½ helps drive economic growth through relationships with local businesses and industries, schools and nonprofit organizations.
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MEDIA CONTACT(S)
Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@wsu.edu
Debbie Blas, director, Southwest Washington MESA, 360-546-9355, debbie.blas@wsu.edu