Fall 2010/Winter 2011
Seven students were recognized on the state assembly and senate floors for their achievement in sweeping MESA’s national wind energy engineering design competition.
The winning teams from Garden Grove High School and Hudson Middle School were invited to the state capitol by Assemblymember Tom Torlakson.
Assemblymember Torlakson and the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies (CEERT) co-sponsored and organized the trip.
Both the middle and high school California MESA teams were named national champs in the National Engineering Design Competition at the University of Colorado–Denver this summer. The wins culminated nearly a year of designing, creating, testing and contending. The groups beat out 14,000 students in California as well as teams from other states.
The students and their advisors had breakfast with Assemblymember Torlakson, met with their local legislators and were presented with certificates of achievement on the Assembly floor during legislative session. They also spoke with CEERT engineers about their projects.
Renewable energy companies enXco and Terra-Gen Power contributed to the students’ travel costs.
“These projects teach students to understand design principles such as torque, generating and storing wind energy as well as how to think like environmental scientists,” said MESA Executive Director Oscar Porter. “We’re thankful to CEERT, enXco and Terra-Gen not only for contributing to this event, but also sharing with the students ever-growing career choices in renewable energy.”
Garden Grove High School team members Steven Chau, Scott Nguyen and Kalin Zaluzec were led by advisor Sunny Costello. The students are served by the MESA center housed at the University of California Irvine School of Engineering.
Hudson Middle school team members Kim Ventura, Reggie Lata, Rae Jillian Rivera and Breanna Nery were led by advisor James Mills. The students are served by the MESA center housed at the California State University Long Beach College of Engineering.
The wind energy design competition is part of MESA Days, a yearly showcase of students’ math and science know-how. Through MESA and MESA Day competitions, students can explore future careers in science, engineering and other technical fields.
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