By Kristiana Erthner
Cars racing, bridges collapsing and strange objects falling from the sky—this is what MESA Day is all about.

On Saturday, March 6, the MESA Schools Program (Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement) will host its annual MESA Day event, giving San Diego County middle and high school students the opportunity to participate in a number of science-based activities and win awards for their performances.

The 9th annual Leadership Summit took place at the Indian Hills Camp in Jamul on the weekend of February 19 – February 21, 2010. MESA/MEP/MSP students from San Diego City College, San Diego State University, and Southwestern College participated in various competitions that promoted the use of their leadership skills and various strengths attributes.

MESA students at San Diego City College and Southwestern Community College, MESA Engineering Program and Maximizing Science Potential students at San Diego State University can apply for a summer team internship starting NOW!

The Shadow Day Program, coordinated by the San Diego MESA Alliance, matches students with employers to gain insight into technical careers. Student participants have the opportunity to observe one or more people working at a job of interest. Overall, students will observe and network with professionals, investigate a career field, clarify career goals and interests, and function within a work environment.

The Caterpillar Latino Connection (CLC), Solar Chapter affinity group hosted a “Shadow Day” event on Friday, October 23.

This event was organized to provide engineering students with an opportunity to experience a typical workday at Solar Turbines and learn about the various technical/engineering disciplines available. This was an all day event held simultaneously at the two Solar facilities in San Diego (Harbor Drive and Kearny Mesa), where each student participated in two different shadow sessions with a different mentor from a different discipline.

The 6th Annual Student Leadership Conference, “Energizing Your Future!” SDSU MEP students Arielle Nuspl, Pedro Ramos, Emmanuel Hernandez, and Jose Navarro were selected to participate by their MESA Director Theresa Garcia based on their demonstrated potential to be a future leader for their college, the MESA program, and ultimately, in their professional field.

Teams of MESA & SPSD students design “buoyancy shoes”, and student “shoe pilots” race across the length of the pool. Competition allows students to gain experience at applying applying the engineering design process; solving open-ended problems.

This unique conference is expected to enhance the professional development of tomorrow’s leaders. The purpose of the conference was to improve chapter effectiveness, improve communication between stakeholders – students, industry and MESA staff, and promote leadership development. The conference addressed chapter basics, joint planning, community college-university-industry relationships, ethics, and leadership training. See the conference agenda for specific sessions.

Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) is nationally recognized for its innovative and effective academic development program. MESA engages thousands of educationally disadvantaged students so they excel in math and science and graduate with math-based degrees. MESA partners with all segments of California higher education as well as K-12 institutions.

MESA, now celebrating its 40th anniversary, has a proven track record in producing math-based graduates by providing elements such as classes, hands-on competitions, counseling, transfer support and a community environment to students from middle school through four-year college.

With the goal of engaging potential leaders in professional development activities, PBS&J recently granted a $5,000 contribution to the Math, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) Alliance in support of MESA’s annual leadership summit. Funding was provided through The PBSJ Foundation, Inc.