California MESA

MESA BEGINS SEVENTH YEAR OF NSF SCHOLARSHIPS MESA has launched its seventh year in the Scholarships in Science, Technology and Mathematics (S–STEM) grant program of the National Science Foundation. Seventy MESA students will receive S–STEM scholarships this year. MESA’s statewide grant, the largest in the country and renewed by NSF several years over, is three to four times the size of a traditional S–STEM grant. Over 500 MESA community college and university students have received S–STEM scholarships since MESA received its first grant in 2000.
DIRECTOR TRAVELS TO D.C. ON FELLOWSHIP Hernan Maldonado, MESA Engineering Program director at CSU Fresno, spent four weeks this summer in Washington, D.C. as one of 20 national fellows with the Hispanic-Serving National Institutions Program (HSNIP) of the Department of Agriculture (DOL). As a recipient of the competitive E. (Kika) de Garza Fellowship, Maldonado met with federal officials from the Department of State, Department of Education, Housing and Urban Development and Department of Labor, as well as the DOL, to learn about the federal educational policymaking process. Maldonado also discussed with DOL officials how MESA can help meet the department’s need for engineers.
BA STAR STUDENTS CONDUCT RESEARCH THROUGHOUT STATE The two-year BA STAR program launched its third summer of research opportunities for over 100 MESA community college students. First-year students learned the basics at CSU Chico, while second-year students conducted research projects throughout the state at host four-year institutions. All students received stipends. Students researched areas such as life sciences at UC Merced; engineering at UC Irvine; air quality and emission studies at UC Riverside, and data warehousing with San Diego State University and Sungard Systems—the first research/internship collaboration undertaken with the international software firm. Students who focused on renewable residential energy systems with UC Santa Cruz did their work with PG&E in Stockton and earned Certificates of Accomplishment for completion of the company’s Basic Weatherization Course.
CHICO RECEIVES OVER HALF MILLION DOLLARS IN NEW NSF SCHOLARSHIPS The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $598,000 in scholarships to the MESA Engineering Program at CSU Chico. Forty MESA students will receive $4,250 in scholarships for up to three years. In all, the Chico MEP has received $1.8 million in scholarships from various NSF proposals.
SUMMER ALGEBRA ACADEMIES BUILD FOR COLLEGE MESA partnered with the UC Regional Academic Initiatives program to co-sponsor Summer Algebra Academies. The Academies build academic excellence in algebra for eighth- and ninth-grade students, reinforces a college-going culture and increases parent involvement. The MESA center at UC Santa Cruz worked as part of the umbrella Educational Partnership Center that held Academies at Watsonville, Pajaro Valley, Soledad, James Lick and Central Bay high schools. The five-week Soledad Academy served 48 MESA students and incorporated MESA hands-on math and science activities, college readiness workshops, career exploration workshops and fieldtrips to UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz and San Jose State and Stanford universities. MESA teachers worked with math coaches from the Monterey County Office of Education.
JOHNS HOPKINS, MESA OFFER ENGINEERING CLASS TO HIGH SCHOOLERS For the second year in a row, MESA teamed with Johns Hopkins University to provide a rigorous college-level introductory engineering course to high school students. The four-week course familiarized students with the analytic tools and techniques used in the engineering profession. High school participants from the CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, UC Santa Barbara and University of the Pacific MESA centers attended lectures, worked in laboratories and completed hands-on projects. Students earning an A or B in the course received three college credits at Johns Hopkins University.
CALTRANS PROVIDES INTERNSHIPS FOR SFSU STUDENTS Ten MESA Engineering Program (MEP) students from San Francisco State University worked at Caltrans this summer as part of an internship program between the state department and the MEP. The internships, which began in mid-March, extend for a year, and included special summer hours as well as work during the school year. Next summer, San Francisco State University MEP undergraduates will help select 50 MESA Schools Program students to attend a special engineering summer school sponsored by Caltrans at the campus.
SKYLINE STUDENTS PRESENT FINDINGS Skyline students Ruth Arce, Ben Borgo, Anna Dneprov, Margarita Guitierrez, Kahee Jo and Mina Mostafavi, presented summer research projects at the Bridges to the Baccalaureate and the Doctor Preparation Workshop last August at San Francisco State University. Their topics included antibacterial research against pathogens, microbial air quality in aging middle schools and how to affect the process of making RNA to impact the production of white blood cells. Students started their research work in the spring, then continued in the summer for ten weeks.
FRESNO MESA ACADEMY STUDIES AIR QUALITY Air quality in the Central Valley was this year's theme for the MESA Science and Engineering Academy that took place at the College of Engineering at CSU Fresno. The two-week academy was co-sponsored by the CSU Fresno, Fresno Unified School District, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, the California Department of Transportation, UC Merced, the MESA School Program and the MESA Engineering Program. Some 90 MESA students from the local area in grades 9-12 studied possible causes of air pollution in the Valley and visited UC Merced. Students also toured PPG Industries in Fresno to learn how the plant handles chemical waste and study the plant's extensive recycling practices.
JOB SHADOW DAY. Over 80 students from three San Diego MESA institutions participated in Job Shadow Day 2006, visiting more than 20 different companies, including Northrup Grumman, Rick Engineering and Hamilton Sundstrand, during a single day in November. Designed to expose students to math, science and engineering careers as they are practiced in the workplace, the event matched students with companies in their areas of interest (e.g., biochemistry, civil engineering, and telecommunications). The San Diego City College, San Diego State University and Southwestern College MESA programs sponsored the event.
MESA STUDENT RESEARCHERS PRESENT PAPERS. Twenty MESA students from Skyline College presented their original scientific research at the 2006 annual convention of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) last October in Tampa. Ten of the students began their research in the spring semester in Dr. Christine Case’s Biology 230 class which included sections on the development of a research inquiry, designing experiments, implementing the experiments, collecting and analyzing data, and doing a review of current literature. These same students later enrolled in Biology 690 and submitted abstracts which were evaluated and accepted for publication and presentation at the SACNAS convention.
MESA ON PUBLIC TV. University of the Pacific MESA Schools Program Advisor Andrew Walter and MESA students from Stagg High School in Stockton were filmed last October for “Innovations,” a program that will air on Public Broadcasting Service-affiliated stations across the country in the fall of 2007. MESA was selected to demonstrate a pioneering approach to teaching future engineers.

PHOTO GALLERY: Take a look at some image photos of recent activities held at different MESA centers.
Student Leadership Forum Photo Album Pictures from the UC Student Leadership Conference in Sacramento.


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