Thank You for Your Interest in Volunteering for our upcoming Competition Series!
Our competition series will take place over a 2 week period as follows with both in person and advance volunteer opportunities. All of our competition events will occur virtually or by pre-submission.
- April 13: Middle School MESA Day
- April 15: High School MESA Day
- April 16: MESA Day Awards Show
- April 20: Middle School MESA USA
- April 22: High School MESA USA
- April 23: MESA USA Awards Show
Full event information can be found in the linked handbooks (available under resources in the side bar). Review the volunteer information for each event in the flyers below. Because this event is virtual, there are multiple opportunities for volunteering…all with different time commitments. Some are in person roles the day of each event and some are advance roles in which you determine when you will review assigned materials within a given time frame. The flyers and registration details out each opportunity and the time commitment required. Please direct any questions to Anita Gonzales, anita@nmmesa.org, 505-718-9517
The NM MESA, Inc., Annual statewide competitions are designed to encourage the concept of problem solving through teamwork. It salutes NM MESA students for their commitment to academic excellence and reinforces the NM MESA mission of preparing students from historically underrepresented ethnic groups for college majors and careers in math, engineering and science.
COMPETITION OVERVIEW: Equity is hard to achieve and the difference between equality and equity are important. Although both promote fairness, equality achieves this through treating everyone the same regardless of need, while equity achieves this through treating people differently dependent on need. Equity applied to design starts with looking at systems that unfairly privilege some over others and asks questions about what can be done to level the playing field. All of our events will address the topic of Designing for Equity.
NM MESA schools are invited to participate in our MESA Day as follows:
- On Site Science-Equity in Science Gameshow – Students will compete in a remote gameshow-style, timed question and answer quiz, relating to equity and inequity in the world of science.
- On Site Math (Moderator Role Available)-Let’s Kahoot: Math Trivia – Students will compete in an online Math competition.
- On Site Art Achievement (In Person Volunteer Roles Available)-MESA Poetry Slam – For this STEAM event students will create and present a unique poem with a Science, Technology, Engineering and/or Mathematics theme.
- On Site Engineering (In Person Volunteer Roles Available)-Building for Equity – For this engineering challenge, students will receive a mailed package through USPS of materials needed and to be used during the designated date/time for the onsite event. Students are encouraged to explore the mechanics of engineering, drafting and design for this competition.
- Prepared Design (Advance Judging Volunteer Roles Available)-Designing for Equity – For this project, student teams will identify an individual or group who experiences some type of inequity (i.e., a user). Teams will employ human-centered design practices, engineer a mock prototype, and deliver their chosen solution via video.
and our MESA USA Competition as follows:
- Design Brief (Advance Judging Volunteer Roles Available) – The objective of the Design Brief is to provide a brief, non-technical overview of the entire project.
- Technical Presentation and Interview (In Person Volunteer Roles Available)- The objective of the Technical Presentation and Interview is to provide an overview of the prototype functionality including a technical explanation of the mechanical operations, software operations, and integration of the two. Students will deliver a short presentation, which includes a demonstration of the functionality of the prototype, followed by a question and answer session with judges.
- Poster and Symposium (Advance Judging Volunteer Roles Available)- 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 an electronic academic poster.
- Prototype Pitch (In Person Volunteer Roles Available) – The objective of the Prototype Pitch is to convince the audience that the design meets the user’s needs and has value as a product to address an issue of inequity. Students will prepare a creative, engaging presentation to pitch their prototype to an audience, including a group of judges. The presentation should define the problem; should show how they address the theme of Designing for Equity; provide a detailed description of the user and their needs; discuss current solutions to the problem and their weaknesses; and provide a demonstration of their prototype highlighting its advantages.
