Video – “As seen on” NBC 7, Tuesday, November 22:
Bridging the Gap: There are high paying, professional jobs for college graduates, but not enough qualified people to fill them.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/video/#!/on-air/as-seen-on/Bridging-the-Gap/134372433

Article – Forbes Magazine, Tuesday, November 22
Are Hispanics America’s Next Great STEM Innovators?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmarshallcrotty/2011/11/22/are-hispanics-americas-next-great-stem-innovators/

A select group of San Diego State students honed leadership skills for the future during a special conference for engineering and computer science majors.

The Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement Student Leadership Conference held in Oakland last month offered extensive professional and leadership development through direct interaction with industry mentors and speakers. The hand-picked students, all majoring in engineering or computer science, were from 25 universities and community colleges across the state.

SDG&E involvement

San Diego Gas and Electric Company sponsored 12 students from the San Diego area, including eight from SDSU. SDG&E’s $10,000 contribution also funded two students each from the affiliated programs at San Diego City and Southwestern colleges.

Brad Weinstein and Sherwin Yari, both with SDG&E, held workshops about the energy industry and encouraged students to continue their educational journeys. Yari, an associate engineer and Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement program alumnus, shared how the program helped him when he was a student.

Other conference sponsors included:

• Pacific Gas & Electric Company
• Sacramento Municipal Utilities District
• Southern California Gas Company
• Vanir Construction Management Inc.

Other contributors included East Bay Municipal Utilities District, the Oakland Athletics and Pixar.

Keeping California competitive

The Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement program is one of the largest in the state to support educationally disadvantaged students so they can graduate from college with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math, also known as STEM disciplines.

“We know that California’s economy needs more STEM workers to stay competitive,” said Oscar F. Porter, the program’s executive director. “These students provide the solution to industry’s need for well-trained professionals.

“They were selected to attend the conference because these students have strong leadership skills. This event gives them a chance to interact extensively with STEM professionals currently working in the field.”

Student attendees represented campuses throughout California, including California State University, University of California and community colleges, as well as private universities.

About the program

Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement, an academic preparation program that each year serves about 20,000 California pre-college, community college and university students who are educationally disadvantaged, is an award-winning program with a model that works.

Seventy percent of the program’s high school graduates statewide went directly to college after graduation, compared to 48 percent of all California graduates. Sixty percent of MESA students go on to math, science or engineering majors.

Story from SDSU NewsCenter:  http://newscenter.sdsu.edu/sdsu_newscenter/news.aspx?s=73265

Additional photo coverage can be found at the MESA Statewide Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/mesa.statewide?sk=photos

Post-Conference Lunch

MESA and SDG&E: R. Alvarez, T. Garcia, W. Ruis, J. Muniz-Torres, L. Zelkind, T. White, J. Espino-Ramos, R. Bakhiet

san diego state SLC post event release

MESA students from San Diego State University, Southwestern and San Diego City Colleges gathered to thank San Diego Gas and Electric for its sponsorship and support.

Eleven MESA students hosted a luncheon for three SDG&E representatives on November 4, 2011 at the San Diego State College of Engineering.

SDG&E’s contribution allowed those students to build leadership skills during a special conference for engineering and computer science majors. The Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Student Leadership Conference Student Leadership Conference was held October 6 – 8 in
Oakland.

San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E) sponsored 12 students from the San Diego area including eight from San Diego State. SDG&E’s $10,000 contribution also funded two students each from the San Diego City and Southwestern College MESA programs.

During the luncheon, the students presented SDG&E with a certificate of appreciation and students received certificates for completing the conference. In attendance were SDG&E’s Community Relations Manager Warren Ruis, Staffing Advisor Tamika White and Senior Staffing Advisor Lisa
Zelkind.

“I was motivated because of the motivation I found in the students. I was only initially supposed to be there for two hours, but I stayed the entire time,” White said of the conference during the luncheon.  ”It motivated me as a professional to see their enthusiasm to learn.”

The conference offered extensive professional and leadership development through direct interaction with industry mentors and speakers. The hand-picked MESA students, engineering or computer science majors, are from 25 universities and community colleges across the state.

Brad Weinstein and Sherwin Yari of SDG&E held workshops about the energy industry and encouraged students with continuing their educational journeys. Yari, an associate engineer and MESA alum, shared how MESA helped him while a student at San Diego State University.

MESA and SDG&E award SDSU MEP student M. Gagui

Other sponsors include Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Sacramento Municipal Utilities District, Southern California Gas Company and Vanir Construction Management, Inc. Other contributors include East Bay Municipal Utilities District, the Oakland Athletics and Pixar.

MESA is one of the largest programs in the state to support educationally disadvantaged students so they can graduate from college with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees.

“We know that California’s economy needs more STEM workers to stay competitive,” said MESA Executive Director Oscar F. Porter. “These students provide the solution to industry’s need for well trained professionals.
“They were selected to attend the conference because these students have strong leadership skills. This event gives them a chance to interact extensively with STEM professionals currently working in the field,” said Porter.

Student attendees represent the following campuses: CSU Chico, CSU East Bay, CSU Fresno, CSU Long Beach, CSU Los Angeles, CSU Sacramento, San Diego State University, San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, Sonoma State University, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz,
American River College (Sacramento), Butte College (Oroville), Cañada College (Redwood City), City College of San Francisco, Cosumnes River College (Sacramento), Los Medanos College (Pittsburg), Mission College (Santa Clara), Napa Valley College, Sacramento City College, San Diego City College,
San Joaquin Delta College, Skyline College (San Bruno), Southwestern College, Yuba College (Marysville).

MESA, an academic preparation program that each year serves about 20,000 California pre-college, community college and university students who are educationally disadvantaged, is an awarding winning program with a model that works. Seventy percent of MESA high school graduates statewide went directly to college after graduation compared to 48 percent of all California graduates.

Sixty percent of MESA students go on to math, science or engineering majors.
San Diego Gas and Electric, (SDG&E) is a regulated public utility that provides safe and reliable energy service to 3.5 million consumers through 1.4 million electric meters and more than 850,000 natural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange counties. The utility’s area spans 4,100 square miles.
SDG&E is committed to creating ways to help our customers save energy and money every day.

For more information about MESA, visit http://mesa.ucop.edu/home.html.
For more information about SDG&E, visit http://www.sdge.com/index/

Photo coverage can be found at the San Diego MESA Alliance Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150349280233367.358070.52506768366&type=3

Engineers, educators and STEM experts will share their knowledge and experience with eighth graders, parents and teachers. Activities include:

• Catapult focused math problems
• Hands-on engineering activities
• Catapult design competition
• STEM learning stations
• Fun giveaways

Register by Wednesday, Nov. 2, at: http://raytheon.cvent.com/survey/catapult

There is no fee for this event but space is limited, so please register early.

Saturday, Nov. 12 – 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Raytheon Company
8680 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92123

Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Linda Anthony at lranthony@raytheon.com. She will need basic contact information (name, phone, email, organization) and add to her volunteer database. The volunteers will need to sign a waiver the upon arrival.

Raytheon’s MathMovesU program was founded in 2005 to spark passion in STEM studies among U.S. middle school students. Learn more at mathmovesu.com.

Follow us on:
Twitter @RaytheonCSR
facebook.com/mathmovesu

CatapultFlyer_PDF

$39,000 in NSF scholarships distributed directly to students significantly decreased financial burden on students and their families.

Students who received or are in the process of receiving scholarship support for the 2010-2011 academic year include:

=== From Southwestern College 2010-2011 ===

Steve Almos Biotechnology

Ana Ascencio Mathematics

Alex Chavez Biology

Abraham Diaz Structural Engineering

Alan Remington Gonzalez Biology

Stephanie Hernandez Computer Engineering

Jireh Imperial Biology

Ana Patricia Lopez Environmental Engineering

Jorge Ordonez Electrical Engineering

Estefania Ricalde Biology

Alicia Rivero Pre-Med

Alexandro Robles Construction Engineering

Frank Sanchez Mechanical Engineering

Ruth Sosa Mechanical Engineering

Yuri Svorovski Biology

Melody Sycks Bio-Chemical Engineering

Ninosthka Vazquez Biology

Imran Yasin Chemistry

===From San Diego City College 2010-2011===

Aguilar-Rivera Hugo Biology

Ahmann Randall Civil Engineering

Alfaro Ysidro Bioengineering

Armstrong William Electrical Engineering

Bartolotta Elesha Biology

Frem Leonardo ‘Alex’ Electrical Engineering

Gilstrap Andrew Mechanical Engineering

Gonzalez Marissa Nursing

Lagunas Acosta Jacqueline Biochemistry

Lara Jessenia Engineering

Lemus Maria Bioengineering

Long Dana Architectural Engineering

Camanho Tylson Environmental Engineering

Pourazary Ashley Nanoengineering

Ridgell LaTiana Nursing

Riveros Diana Computer Engineering/Math

Rojas-Colin Angelica Civil Engineering

Troast Nicholas Computer Engineering

Vasquez Alberto Biology

Yusuf Fatuma Chemistry

===From San Diego State University 2010-2011===

ACEVEDA DIANE Environmental Engineering

AMPARO CAESAR Mechanical Engineering

AQUINO KELVIN Mechanical Engineering

BOEHM WHITNEY Chemistry/Biology

BRISENO NOEL Civil Engineering

CANDIDO FRANCISCO Aerospace Engineering

CARTER CRISTOPHER Electrical Engineering

CASTRO ALEJANDRO Electrical Engineering

CORONA SANTOS Civil Engineering

DEL ROSARIO NATHALIE Chemistry/Biology

ESCALANTE EMILY Mechanical Engineering

ESPINOSA JR JOSE Mathematics

FIMBRES-LOPEZ JOSEPH Computer Engineering

FORTIN ELIZABETH Mechanical Engineering

GAGUI MARC Electrical Engineering

GRAY EMILY Mechanical Engineering

HALILI RONALD Computer Engineering

HANDY JADE Mechanical Engineering

HUBER RACHELLE Environmental Engineering

JIMENEZ CARLOS Electrical Engineering

KEKUA-LUIS IKAIKA Electrical Engineering

MARTINEZ LUIS Mechanical Engineering

MICHEL CAESAR Civil Engineering

MORRONE GEMSIN Civil Engineering

NAVARRO II CARLOS Civil Engineering

NGUYEN HOANG Chemistry/Biology

NOOE JOSHUA Civil Engineering

OCBAMICAEL SEMIR Mechanical Engineering

ORTIZ JASTINE Aerospace Engineering

PATAGUE PHILLIP Civil Engineering

PEREZ ISMAEL Mathematics

PHAN DAVID Civil Engineering

QUINONEZ JOSUE Aerospace Engineering

RIMANDO MANUEL Aerospace Engineering

SAENZ ERICK Aerospace Engineering

SCHIEDERMAYER JASON Electrical Engineering

SINGH KAMALDEEP Aerospace Engineering

SORIA JAVIER Aerospace Engineering

TORRES CRUZ Civil Engineering

VILLASENOR FERNANDO Civil Engineering

Also partnering in the ERC are historically minority-serving institutions Spelman College and Morehouse College, both in Atlanta, and Southwestern College in Chula Vista, Calif. International partners are the University of British Columbia and the University of Tokyo.

All NSF-funded engineering research centers are mandated to integrate research with education and community outreach. This new ERC will work with MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement Programs) and school districts in Seattle and San Diego to develop neural robotics curriculum for middle school and high school students

Read the full press release at SDSU NewsCenter.

The Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) program at San Diego City College and Southwestern College serves economically disadvantaged, first generation community college students who come from underrepresented populations.

The Great Valley Center (GVC) is a non-profit organization targeting services to the Central Valley; residents with the lowest computer and broadband use, and high concentrations of Latinos who also have low computer and internet usage.

View the full press release at San Diego City College MESA website.
For more information go to the San Diego City College MESA website.

A miniature working windmill from last year's MESA group sits on display while behind it groups of students work on their windmill designs. (Eric Miller)

BY ROMAN FLORES Imperial Valley Press Staff Writer

Full story can be found at The Imperial Valley Press.

All it takes to build a windmill is construction paper, rubber bands and batteries.

At least that’s what 40 Imperial Valley students in the Math Engineering Science and Achievement program in three middle schools and two high schools attempted to do at the San Diego Gas & Electric Windmill presentation at the SDG&E Resource Center on Wednesday in El Centro.

Five SDG&E engineers were on hand to give students an outlook on their career choice.

“For the most part, this is the first time any of them get to meet engineers,” said Jeanette Ramos, Imperial Valley MESA program director.
“A lot of our students thought engineers look like Einstein and then they met these engineers who are all so young,” she said, adding that the students were very receptive to the engineers during the presentation.

The students agreed.

“It was interesting because they told us about all the various forms of energy,” 16-year-old Calexico High School junior Adrian Ortiz said.
Ramos said the presentation is supposed to help students in the MESA USA National Engineering Design Competition Wind Energy Challenge.
In the national competition, high school and middle school teams research, design, build, test and compete using their own team windmill to use wind energy to complete certain tasks, according to MESA’s competition overview.

Though schools from the Imperial Valley have scored as high as third place in the Southern California section of the MESA competition, Ramos said their goal is to have the local team place first in order to move on to the state competition.

But first the students have to best each other.

“Yes, we’re going to beat the other groups because we’re from Imperial,” said ninth-grader Debbie Kim.

Staff Writer Roman Flores can be reached at 760-337-3439 or rflores@ivpressonline.com

MESA Wind Energy Challenge road to victory

Local: Imperial Valley competition March 5 at Imperial Valley College

Regional: Middle school competition April 2 at Chapman University, Orange
High school competition April 9 at University of California Irvine

State: California MESA Competition at University of California Santa Barbara in May

National Engineering Design Competition to be announced in June

Copyright © 2010, Imperial Valley Press

SDSU MEP students Jade Handy, Nelson Hernandez, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut and MESA alumnus Jose Hernandez, SDSU MEP students Evita Valdivieso, Ivan Ramirez, and Director Theresa M. Garcia

By Danielle McNamara
(510) 987-0230
danielle.mcnamara@ucop.edu

• View Press Release as .DOCX
• View Press Release at SDSU NewsCenter
• View photo coverage

San Diego State students chosen for leadership conference

A select group of four San Diego State students were among 150 college students across California chosen to participate in a special leadership conference.

The Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Student Leadership Conference offered extensive professional and leadership development through direct interaction with industry mentors and speakers. The hand-picked MESA students, all science, engineering, or math majors, were from 24 universities and community colleges across the state, including San Diego State University.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) sponsored the event and more than 25 PG&E employees volunteered their time to work closely with the students during the 2-day conference in October.

PG&E was recognized for the extensive support the company has provided to assist educationally disadvantaged MESA students to graduate in math-based fields. PG&E has supported MESA since 1979. William Harper, PG&E vice president and chief diversity officer and MESA board member, addressed the students and encouraged them to continue.

“I see the future in this room, that is why PG&E is committed to building a workforce that reflects the diversity of our customers of the future by working with organizations like MESA,” he told the group.

NASA astronaut and MESA alumnus Jose Hernandez spoke to MESA students during the event.

The astronaut motivated students to continue through tough engineering and math courses with stories of his upbringing as a farm worker in central California. He went on from that humble background to fly aboard the Discovery space shuttle in 2009. He participated in MESA while a student at the University of the Pacific and UC Santa Barbara.

“It’s very important what MESA is doing to support you to stay in these fields,” Hernandez said. “I’m a product of MESA, so you see good things come out of the program.”

Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, MESA is one of the largest programs in the state to support educationally disadvantaged students so they can graduate from college with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees.

“We know that California’s economy needs more STEM workers to stay competitive,” said MESA Executive Director Oscar F. Porter. “These students provide the solution to industry’s need for well-trained professionals.

“They were selected to attend the conference because these students have strong leadership skills. This event gives them a chance to interact extensively with STEM professionals currently working in the field,” said Porter.

Student attendees represented the following campuses: CSU Chico, CSU Fresno, CSU Los Angeles, CSU Sacramento, San Diego State University, San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, Sonoma State University, UC Riverside, UC Santa Cruz, University of the Pacific (Stockton), American River College (Sacramento), Bakersfield College, Butte College (Oroville), Cañada College (Redwood City), City College of San Francisco, Cosumnes River College (Sacramento), Los Medanos College (Pittsburg), Mission College (Santa Clara), Napa Valley College (Napa), Sacramento City College, Santa Rosa Junior College, Skyline College (San Bruno), Yuba College (Marysville).

MESA, an academic preparation program that each year serves about 20,000 California pre-college, community college and university students who are educationally disadvantaged, is an awarding winning program with a model that works. Seventy percent of MESA high school graduates statewide went directly to college after graduation compared to 48 percent of all California graduates. Sixty percent of MESA students go on to math, science or engineering majors.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation’s cleanest energy to 15 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit http://www.pge.com/about/newsroom/.

For more information about MESA visit http://mesa.ucop.edu/home.html.

# # #

Three teams vie to reach the end of the swimming pool.

The 2010 Walk on Water competition was held on Saturday, October 23, 2010 at the Southwestern Community College swimming pool, from 10:00 – 1:00 PM.

There were over 87 attendees, with teams from San Diego City College, Southwestern College, San Diego State University, La Jolla High School, Central Union High School, San Pasqual High School, and Mark Twain High School,  within the San Diego MESA Schools Program.

Most campuses respective MESA programs’ refunded costs to build the buoyancy shoes that teams created to ‘walk on water’ up to $100.

KFMB-TV (CBS) San Diego featured a news coverage clip on their Local 8 Weekend broadcast that is viewable here: Click here to watch the Local 8 Weekend news coverage clip.

The San Diego MESA Alliance would like to thank the following volunteers and guests for their support: James and Janka Bond from Southwestern College; Joanne Jordan, Frank Snook, and Wedad Schlotte of NAVAIR.

2010 Walk on Water Final Results:

Fastest:

1. Spices, La Jolla High School
2. I SHPE You Not, Mesa College
3. Fishies, La Jolla High School

Most Creative:

1. Aquanauts, San Pasqual High School
2. Fishies, La Jolla High School
3. Hugs-N-Kisses, Southwestern College

Recycled Material Usage:

1. Hugs-N-Kisses, Southwestern College
2. U-Boats, La Jolla High School
3. Bottle Star, Southwestern College

Additional photo coverage can be found at the San Diego MESA Alliance Facebook page. Feel free to join, discuss, tag and upload pictures/videos.

WALK ON WATER COMPETITION
SAT. OCT. 23 2010
10:00 – 1:00 PM
@ SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE

• RACE ACROSS THE LENGTH OF THE POOL WITHOUT FALLING IN!
• BUOYANCY SHOES UP TO 8 FEET LONG
• USE OF RECYCLABLE ITEMS ENCOURAGED
• UP TO $100 EXPENDITURE LIMIT

SEE SPECIFIC CAMPUS MESA/MEP/MSP PROGRAMS FOR DETAILS ON REIMBURSEMENTS AND SIGNING UP.

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.

DOCUMENTS:

• 2010 Walk on Water Registration & Rules Packet
• 2010 Walk on Water Flyer (General)
• SWC Code of Behavior

Pictured are (from left) Carolyn Williams, community relations manager, Southern California Gas Company; Carolyn Williams, community relations manager, Southern California Gas Company; Joseph Rivera, director of Gas Engineering, Southern California Gas Company; Lisa Zelkind, senior staffing advisor, San Diego Gas & Electric and Angeline Yang, MESA program coordinator at San Diego State University.

Danielle McNamara (510) 987-0230
danielle.mcnamara@ucop.edu

• Press release as .PDF
• Story also on SDSU Newscenter

Engineering and computer science students at San Diego State will benefit from increased services thanks to a grant from Sempra Energy Foundation.

The San Diego State Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) center will receive $6,000 to support students in retention and graduation.

MESA, an academic preparation and enrichment program, supports students so they can earn degrees in math-based fields. At San Diego State, more than 260 students are involved in MESA.

Four other MESA centers in Sempra’s service area will also receive $6,000 each: Cal State LA, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Long Beach and CSU Fresno. MESA currently serves more than 1,000 students at those five campuses.

“Sempra has long been a supporter of MESA, but this is the largest grant MESA has received from the company,” said Oscar Porter, MESA Executive Director. “The money will help us increase services to nearly half of our centers serving university students.”

MESA, an academic preparation program that each year serves about 20,000 California pre-college, community college and university students who are educationally disadvantaged, is an awarding winning program with a model that works. Seventy percent of MESA high school graduates statewide went directly to college after graduation compared to 48 percent of all California graduates. Sixty percent of MESA students go on to math, science or engineering majors.

Sempra is a worldwide energy company whose California subsidiaries, Southern California Gas Company and San Diego Gas and Electric, serve 20 million customers in southern and central California.

For more information about MESA visit http://www.ucop.edu/mesa/
For more information about SEMPRA visit http://www.sempra.com/
For more information about Sempra Energy Foundation visit http://www.sempra.com/community/foundation/
# # #