A team from McCabe Junior High School in Mendota, served by California State University, Fresno’s MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) program, placed second in the National Engineering Design Competition.
It was the second straight year that McCabe represented California in the national MESA competition and placed among the top three junior high and middle school teams. The competition was June 25-28 in Denver, Colo.
McCabe teammates Luis Escobar, Angel Hernandez, Alexis Pena and Karina Torres competed against peer teams from across the country.
The McCabe team won the California title in competition at Fresno State in May against teams from schools in Inglewood, Compton and Williams.
In Denver, participants were required to design and build a trebuchet, a siege engine similar to a catapult, which was judged for distance and accuracy. Students also were evaluated on their knowledge of math and physics principles behind their design.
MESA provides academic preparation in math and science to educationally disadvantaged students to encourage them to attend college and study in math-based fields leading to careers in engineering, science and mathematics.
California’s MESA program serves 17,600 students at precollege, community college and university levels. Over 80 percent of MESA high school graduates go directly to college, compared to 47 percent of all California graduates.
The national competition received support from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, United Launch Alliance, IBM, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard and the University of Colorado.
For more information, please contact Fresno State MESA director Louie Lopez, louie_lopez@csufresno.edu or 559.278.2976.
