Intermediate, Then High School Students Coming to CSUF to Drop Eggs, Fly Gliders, Race Paper Cars, Compete With Catapults, ‘Speak Easy’

February 22, 2008 :: No. 158

A wave of about 350 intermediate-school students will invade Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday, Feb. 27, followed by a second wave of about 300 high school students the following Wednesday, March 5, for two MESA Days, held as part of Engineering and Computer Science Week.

Other scheduled activities include leadership training, a career fair that will draw at least 50 corporate and government employers, and an open house to showcase advising, tutoring and mentoring opportunities in the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

Among the MESA Day students’ competitions will be: figuring out how to keep eggs from breaking after dropping them six stories onto concrete; tossing objects across an expanse of lawn with trebuchets (a type of catapult) for power, distance and accuracy; flying their designs of hand-launch gliders made of balsawood; seeing who has the strongest bridge made of manila folders and popsicle sticks; judging who has built a better mousetrap-powered car, racing air-powered cars made of paper, wooden beads and straws; and competing in a figure contest — in mathematics.

Also featured will be Web-design displays, student-built models of the heart and other internal parts of the human body, testing of different types of soils and scavenger hunts.

The week’s activities begin Monday, Feb. 25, with an alumni-student luncheon, when graduates will be paired with students to discuss career paths.

Professionals from the following companies and agencies are expected to attend: Advanced Systems Research, Boeing, Cristek Interconnects, Evisions Inc., Interstate Electronics Corp., Kaiser Permanente, Parasoft Corp., Raytheon Co., RBF Consulting, Roland DGA Corp., Seagate Technology, Thales-Raytheon Systems Co., U.S. Navy and Verizon Network Engineering.

Engineering and Computer Science Week 2008 Schedule
• Monday, Feb. 25 “Engineering & Computer Science 50th Anniversary Alumni Mentor Luncheon”, 11:30a.m. -1:30 p.m. Titan Student Union

• Tuesday, Feb. 26: Career Fair, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Engineering and Computer Science Quad

• Wednesday, Feb. 27, MESA Day for intermediate school students
9 a.m.-2 p.m., ECS Quad, lawn and classrooms
- 9-10 a.m.: 
- model science questions and soil science, Engineering Building, Room 202
- straw towers, “Foil Floaters,” scavenger hunt, Computer Science Building, Room 402
- Web scavenger hunt, Computer Science Building, Room 101
- 10:10-11:10 a.m.: 
- mousetrap cars, Engineering Building, Room 30
- trebuchets, ECS lawn
- speech, Computer Science Building, conference room
- “Stick Together,” Engineering Building, Room 10
- Web design questions, Computer Science Building, Room 102A
- Web scavenger hunt, Computer Science Building, Room 101
- “Foil Floaters,” ECS Quad
- air-powered vehicles (location to be announced)
- 11: 15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.:
- “Team Math Quest” (location to be announced)
- speech, Computer Science, conference room
- manila-folder bridges, Engineering Building, Room 10
- EggXpress egg drop, Humanities-Social Sciences Building
- Web scavenger hunt, Computer Science Building, Room 104
- 12:15-1 p.m. lunch
- 1-1:45 p.m. awards

• Thursday, Feb. 28, ECS Student Leadership Day, 11 a.m.- 2 p.m., ECS Quad
Featuring food, prize drawings, information tables for student clubs and organizations

• Thursday, Feb. 28, ECS Retention Office Open House
2-4 p.m. Engineering and Computer Science Retention Office, Computer Science Room 109A
Featuring information on advising, tutoring and mentoring for students

• Wednesday, March 5, MESA Day for high school students, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. ECS Quad, lawn, ECS classrooms
- 9-10 a.m., “Speak Out” speech, Computer Science, conference room,
- 9-10 a.m., “Speak Easy” speech, Computer Science, Room 502
- 9-10 a.m., Web design presentations, Engineering Building, Room 101
- 9-10 a.m., foil floaters, ECS Quad
- 9-10 a.m., paper towers (location to be announced)
- 9 a.m.-noon, campus scavenger hunt, ECS Quad
- 9 a.m.-noon, campus tours, ECS Quad
- 9-11 a.m., Web scavenger hunt, Computer Science Building, Room 101
- 9:30-11 a.m., trebuchets, ECS lawn
- 9:30-10:30 a.m., model science displays, Engineering Building, Room 202
- 10-11 a.m. “Manila Madness,”  Engineering Building, Room 10
- 11 a.m.-noon, Web scavenger hunt, Computer Science, Room 104
- 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Math Quest, Engineering Building, Room 101
- 11 a.m.-noon, balsawood gliders, ECS lawn
- 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. model science questions, Computer Science conference room
- 11:30 a.m.1 p.m., lunch
- noon-1 p.m. civil structures, Engineering Building, Room 10
- 12:30-1:30 p.m., EggXpress egg drop, Humanities-Social Sciences Building
- 1-2 p.m. mousetrap cars, Engineering Building, Room 30
- 2-3 p.m. awards ECS lawn                                

Among the corporations and agencies scheduled to send representatives to the Feb. 26 Career Fair are: AAE Inc., American States Water Co., Barry Wehmiller Design Group, Boeing, C.W. Driver, C.R. Laurence Co. Inc., California State Water Resources Control Board, Caltrans, CGI, city of Huntington Beach, Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, CornerTurn, ENSR, ERM, ESRI, First American Corp. and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.

Also scheduled to attend are representatives from: Hewlett Packard, Hills Pet Nutrition, Huitt-Zollars Inc., Inroads, Juice It Up, Kaiser Permanente IT, Kiewit Pacific Co., KOR Electronics Inc., L-3 Communications Intestate Electronics Corp., Los Angeles Department of Public Works, L.A. County Department of Public Works-Engineering, L.A. Department of Water and Power, L.A. Unified School District, Matrix Service, McCarthy Building Companies Inc., NAVAIR, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Newark Group, Northrop Grumman Corp. and Parker Aerospace.

Also on the roster are: Perot Systems Corp., Psomas, Raytheon Co., RBF Consulting, Riverside County Flood Control, Rockwell Collins, Southern California Edison, Sperian Respiratory Protections USA, Sully-Miller Contracting Co., TRC and San Bernardino County Public Works, Department of Toxic Substances Control.

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