Speeding mousetrap cars, turning windmills, and flying balsawood gliders are some of the exciting engineering designs at the 2010 MESA Day Preliminary Competition at the UCSC Jack Baskin School of Engineering on Saturday, March 6, 2010.

About 400 middle and high school students from partner schools in Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Salinas, Gonzales, and Soledad convened at the UC Santa Cruz campus to compete against their peers in a variety of science, engineering, and mathematics projects, putting their design, presentation, critical thinking, performance, and teamwork skills to the test.

“The competitions at MESA Day provide an opportunity for students to apply their knowledge in science and engineering in a hands-on, creative way that’s exciting and fun. Students also get the chance to spend the day with real scientists, engineers, and other industry professionals who judge their projects,” said Alexandria Leckliter, Interim Director of the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Schools Program. “It’s an eye-opener for them. For some students, this creates the motivation to go to college.”

The March 6 event was organized by MESA at the UC Santa Cruz Educational Partnership Center (EPC) to increase college-going rates across the region and prepare more students, especially underrepresented and educationally disadvantaged students, for success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and careers.