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«return to past eventsMESA USA State Competition

COMPETITION LOGISTICS:

COMPETITION OVERVIEW:

The theme for the 2023-24 MESA USA National Engineering Design Competition (NEDC) is: Designing for Equity Locally to Affect Sustainability Globally.

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 to engineer a solution. Teams must use a coding component as the main component of their design. Teams must use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) in a community-centered capacity for their project. UN-SDG provides a broad view of global efforts to promote equity. Aligning to a goal will guide students in narrowing their focus to help their community. Team should achieve this by selecting a SDG Goal and identifying the SDG Target (i.e., 1.1, 1.2) the project is meant to address.

Each competing team must consist of 2-4 students who are active members of the NM MESA program. The first-place middle and high school teams from State events will participate in the National Competition. This National Competition event will occur in June 2024 in California.

The components listed below will be used to assess the effective implementation of a human-centered design approach in the context of designing for equity, effective implementation of the engineering design process, and the functionality of the prototype.

High school and middle school teams will compete in the four components below:

  1. Design Proposal – The objective of the Design Proposal is to provide a brief, non-technical overview of the inspiration for the proposed solution. Students must use the provided Design Proposal Template. Submitted at Registration
  2. 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 Submitted at Registration. Will be printed by NM MESA for use at the State Event.
  3. Technical Pitch– The objective of the Technical Pitch is to allow students to establish their technical knowledge while they provide an overview of their design process and demonstrate their prototype
  4. Symposium – The objective of the symposium is to engage an audience in a conversation about the team’s design process. Students will share a verbal abstract of their project and be available to answer judges’ questions and discuss their project with them using supporting material to emphasize their points in a conference-like setting.

PROJECT REVIEW AND ASSISTANCE:

In addition, teams that would like a review by MESA Staff are encouraged to submit for a project review appointment.  To submit:

  • Teams must have completed projects and must submit a current final draft of what they would like reviewed: proposal, poster.
  • Teams must also submit documentation (picture) of completed prototype.
  • Teams must have already reviewed in entirety the MESA USA Handbook and have reviewed any support materials provided above so they are familiar with the event in entirety.
  • Submissions should be emailed to anita@nmmesa.org
  • Teams must submit up to (3) preferred time block choices and be available to meet the entire duration of the requested time via zoom. Submit choices during the hours of 8AM-5PM, M-F.
  • Teams will be scheduled in up to 1.5 hour time blocks in the order that they submit.
  • Teams will be scheduled during the timeframe of 2/21/24-3/1/24. All appointments are subject to availability.
  • Teams that submit requests too late may not be accommodated.

Project review appointments will:

  • Assist team to ensure submitted teams are meeting current specifications.
  • Give teams an opportunity to practice and ask questions as needed.
  • Give mentorship on project as able.

Project review appointments will not:

  • Make changes to any student work. That is the responsibility of the student team to make desired edits by the submission deadline.
  • Give complete instructions on the project. Teams that are not prepared and ready for a review will not be scheduled.
  • Give a detailed review of the rules. There are current materials available.
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