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Trebuchets – Medieval
catapult weapons – will be in peaceful action Saturday, May 9, when
middle and high school Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement
(MESA) teams come to California State University, Fresno for the MESA’s
statewide competition.
The Fresno State MESA Schools Program will host teams that won regional
competitions. Winners in each category of statewide competition advance
to the National Finals in Colorado in June.
The event is co-sponsored by Fresno State’s Lyles College of Engineering
with assistance from the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers,
Society of Women Engineers, Engineering Pathways, Engineers Without
Borders and Caltrans.
This year’s high school state finalists are California Academy of Math
and Science in Carson, Garden Grove, North Monterey County in
Castroville and Yerba Buena in San Jose. The middle school finalists are
McCabe in Mendota, Monroe in Inglewood, Roosevelt in Compton and
Williams.
MESA Day events provide an annual showcase of students’ math and science
know-how, said Louie Lopez, director of the MESA Schools Program at
Fresno State. MESA programs and competitions “allow students to explore
a future career in engineering and other technical fields.”
The finalists have been working with their trebuchets since fall,
testing them in competition and engineering ways to make them heave
heavier loads farther.
Competition begins at 10:15 a.m. in the South Gym and concludes with an
awards ceremony at 3:15 p.m. Teams will demonstrate their trebuchets in
the performance trials at 1:15 p.m.
High school teams will compete in distance, accuracy and strength
categories, while middle school teams will compete in distance and
accuracy. The event also requires a technical paper, academic display
and oral presentation by each team.
This is the final year for trebuchets. Next year, wind-energy design
competition will replace the ancient weapon.
MESA is an academic preparation program administered by the University
of California that serves 17,625 precollege, community college and
university students who are educationally disadvantaged. Nearly
two-thirds of MESA high school graduates go to college as math,
engineering or science majors leading to careers in fields where there
are more openings than applicants in the United States.
For more information, contact Lopez at 559.278.2976 or
lolopez@csufresno.edu.
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