MESA Design Challenge Specifications
MESA Day is our annual statewide competition. Middle and high schools enrolled in MESA will bring teams to present their design in response to the following engineering design challenges. Individual awards are presented to teams that place first through sixth place in each of the design challenges and trophies are presented to the schools that place first through third overall.
MESA Day is a celebration of STEM, and in addition to bringing students together to present their projects and compete ,there are various STEM activities from our industry, non-profit, and higher education partners for student engagement and continued learning.
To ensure a positive experience for everyone our director has drafted the following message about Student Expectations and Mediation Process for MESA Day.
For this project, student teams will identify an individual or group who experiences some type of inequity (i.e., a user). Teams will employ human-centered design practices to engineer a solution. Teams must use a coding element in their design.
Resources:
- Human Centered Design - A quick video that describes human centered design.
- Human Centered Design Help - Some useful tools for interviewing clients, types of questions, initial prototyping, and much more.
- MESA USA Curriculum - Curriculum for all MESA states focusing on the NEDC
- Arduino Programming Course- A nice walk through of how the programming language works in an Arduino.
- Sparkfun - An educational space from SparkFun dedicated to Arduino.
- MakeCode - Microsoft provides a virtual environment for students to learn how to program Micro:Bit and Circuit Playground Express
- Beginner Arduino with Tinkercad Circuits - learn Arduino virtually using Tinkercad Circuits. Includes virtual demos of wiring and use of sensors and buttons.
- Paul McWhoter YouTube Channel - A series of 35 videos that go in depth on Arduino construction and programming.
- Makerspaces - A resource for beginners and how the Arduino works
- Poster Design Guide
- Poster Design Template - A PowerPoint file with 2 design ideas and a blank slide to design a poster. Meets the size requirement for the poster.
- Questions to Answer - A series of questions for teams to answer as they work through the challenge
- Pitch Example - A TED talk about a design to help premature babies.
- Project Invent Resource Library - Includes info on Design Thinking and an Arduino Crash Course.
Students will design and present a Sustainability idea for a site in their community that is centered around an art installation with sustainable renewable energy features, which can include solar, hydro, wind, and biofuels. Teams will create a model and poster to present their idea.
2024-2025 Sustainability Challenge
Resources:
- Aspects of project that might be emphasized: https://padlet.com/michelle_e_jord/pvsc-library-kud13ira3hp0b22g
- Land Art Generator
- Organic Photo Voltaics Research
- Hydroelectric Power Generation formula with explanation
- Wind Energy Power Generation formula with calculator
- Green Building Learning Lab - resources from the US Green Building Council on building for environmental sustainability and LEED certification.
- 4-H Curriculum Curriculum from our partners at 4-H. You do need a log in to see the lessons
- ECORise Sustainable Intelligence Program - Teachers in Arizona qualify for free access to this curriculum.
- Poster Template - A template for the poster. The first 2 slides are design ideas, the 3rd slide is blank for teams to use.
Students will design and construct a glider with a payload that, when launched by the Launching Mechanism, flies through the air, goes over an obstacle and lands the closest to a target. The glider must be the original work of each team. Judges may ask questions for verification. Students should take into consideration the transportation of projects; competition ready projects must be transported safely to the competition site. An engineering poster is also a required component of this competition.
2024-2025 Cargo Glider High School Specifications
2024-2025 Cargo Glider Middle School Specifications
Resources
Students will design a remote-controlled robot designed to disable an opponent or push an opponent out of bounds. Students will also be required to submit their Design Poster for review and scoring.
2024-2025 MESA Attack Vehicle Specifications
Resources:
- Combat Robot Videos from Arizona MESA
- New Mexico Tech Robot Combat Program Videos
- Purchase Micro:Bit from STEM Education Works
- Starter Robot A simple robot from Instructables that can be used to start students thinking. **This is not a complete robot**
- Poster Template - A template for the poster. The first 2 slides are design ideas, the 3rd slide is blank for teams to use.
- BattleBots - can be used for inspiration for your design. **NOTE**- these are outside MESA specifications
- Starter Code - some starter code for micro:bit that can be used as a starting point for controlling the robot remotely
- RC with Micro:bit - An Instrucible with directions on how to create a remote control system using two Micro:bits
- RC Youtube - A YouTube with code on creating an RC controller with one Micro:bit
Team will design a helicopter that is made 100% out of paper, stay in the air for as long as possible, and land on a target. High School teams must also have a payload that weighs, at minimum, 10 grams. Students will also be required to submit their design poster ahead of MESA Day for review and scoring.
2024-2025 Paper Helicopter Specifications
Resources:
- What is a Helicopter? from NASA
- How a Helicopter Works from Explain That Stuff
- Poster Template - A template for the poster. The first 2 slides are design ideas, the 3rd slide is blank for teams to use.
Students will participate in teams to solve beginner and intermediate level cybersecurity puzzles. This event will be done live at MESA Day.
2024-2025 Cyber Sleuthing Specifications
Resources:
- MESA Cyber Site - The site, with practice, for the challenge
- Free Code Camp - list of basic linux commands
- Cyberchef - a web app for encryption, encoding, compression and data analysis. This will help with the OSINT questions.
- Cheatography - a collection of cheat sheets and quick references. Will be helpful for linux questions.
- Crypto Club - A great resource for beginning cryptography
- CS Unplugged Cryptography - CSUnplugged activities
- Coding For Kids - A great explanation of what a program does.
- Trifid Cipher - An interesting cipher.
- Standards in MESA - Hack Attack.pdf
Teams will demonstrate teamwork and creative problem solving skills by working collaboratively to design, construct and test a given objective/device within a specific period of time.
2024-2025 On-Site Design Specifications
Resources
- Type of Teamwork - A nice video to have students reflect on effective and ineffective teamwork.
- Engineering Challenges from Science Buddies - good practice challenges