MESA Club students participated in a MESA Tournament that was held at Chapman University on Saturday, March 10th. The participants entered many contraptions designed to complete different tasks, such as being able to fly, or using a mousetrap to propel their creation up a ramp. A total of six students also entered the MESA Competition in order to test out their intelligence in math by solving problems ranging from geometry to solving calculus.
In the Balsa Wood Glider category, two students, Geoff Fulkerson and Kage Kistler, worked as a team. Both Geoff and Kage had the objective of making a glider that would be able to stay in the air for as long as possible when launched, before finally hitting the ground. When the results were given out, their glider ranked first place in the category, giving Costa Mesa's MESA Club a victory over the other schools.
Another student , Jesus Lopez, entered a project into the Balsa Wood Airplane Category, which is slightly different than the Balsa Wood Gliders. While the Balsa Wood Gliders needed to be launched using a launcher, Jesus' plane had to be hand thrown and equipped with a propeller, which is supposed to help the plane cut through the air. In the end, Jesus' plane made it into the top three winners, scoring third place in the competition. "Coming in third place with several other competitors, I think I did pretty good," said Jesus Lopez. The judges, however, docked points off of Jesus' plane after he wasn't able to produce an accurate drawing of his project. "I would have come in second, maybe even first if I had drawn my airplane and accurately measured it," explained Jesus," but I'm glad I came in third place."
In the Mousetrap Car Category, students had to construct a vehicle that would be able to move once the trap is set. Depending on the car made, the objective would differ. Valarie Keller and Jessica Vera entered a Mousetrap Car into the Accuracy portion, in which their Mousetrap Car would have to stop at a specific point and line up with a dot marked on the car itself. Their car managed to pull off third place in the Accuracy Portion giving Costa Mesa another win. Quan Nguyen's mission was to construct a Mousetrap car that would be able to move up a ramp. He won first place in his category, giving MESA a major win in the tournament. The last winner in the Mousetrap Category goes to Joseph Rouintree, who won first place in the Mousetrap Car Design portion. "I feel bad for the other competitors that spent time designing their cars," said Joseph, "I just walked in my room and grabbed a random Kinex Car I had built years ago, then strapped a mousetrap to it."
In the Balsa Wood Glider category, two students, Geoff Fulkerson and Kage Kistler, worked as a team. Both Geoff and Kage had the objective of making a glider that would be able to stay in the air for as long as possible when launched, before finally hitting the ground. When the results were given out, their glider ranked first place in the category, giving Costa Mesa's MESA Club a victory over the other schools.
Another student , Jesus Lopez, entered a project into the Balsa Wood Airplane Category, which is slightly different than the Balsa Wood Gliders. While the Balsa Wood Gliders needed to be launched using a launcher, Jesus' plane had to be hand thrown and equipped with a propeller, which is supposed to help the plane cut through the air. In the end, Jesus' plane made it into the top three winners, scoring third place in the competition. "Coming in third place with several other competitors, I think I did pretty good," said Jesus Lopez. The judges, however, docked points off of Jesus' plane after he wasn't able to produce an accurate drawing of his project. "I would have come in second, maybe even first if I had drawn my airplane and accurately measured it," explained Jesus," but I'm glad I came in third place."
In the Mousetrap Car Category, students had to construct a vehicle that would be able to move once the trap is set. Depending on the car made, the objective would differ. Valarie Keller and Jessica Vera entered a Mousetrap Car into the Accuracy portion, in which their Mousetrap Car would have to stop at a specific point and line up with a dot marked on the car itself. Their car managed to pull off third place in the Accuracy Portion giving Costa Mesa another win. Quan Nguyen's mission was to construct a Mousetrap car that would be able to move up a ramp. He won first place in his category, giving MESA a major win in the tournament. The last winner in the Mousetrap Category goes to Joseph Rouintree, who won first place in the Mousetrap Car Design portion. "I feel bad for the other competitors that spent time designing their cars," said Joseph, "I just walked in my room and grabbed a random Kinex Car I had built years ago, then strapped a mousetrap to it."
Competitors in Team Mathquest were able to obtain wins when they managed to outsmart competitors, both in Geometry and Calculus. The Geometry Team, Leo Doan, Sophie Nguyen, and Serena Ozonur, pulled off second place in their category while the Calculus Team, Tam Le, Matthew Morgan, and Quan Nguyen managed to snag third place. Last but not least, Raquel Friedmann and Tam Le competed in the Eggdrop Category and took fourth place.
The MESA Club accumulated many wins this time and are proud of the accomplishment. "I feel the MESA Competition went really really well and I thought the students did a great job and worked really hard, even the ones that didn't win," replied Mr. Poveda, one of the coordinators of the MESA Club. Twelve of the MESA students would be competing once again in the regionals, which starts in the month April. "I am really proud of the students," said Mr. Poveda, "I think they did an amazing job."
The MESA Club accumulated many wins this time and are proud of the accomplishment. "I feel the MESA Competition went really really well and I thought the students did a great job and worked really hard, even the ones that didn't win," replied Mr. Poveda, one of the coordinators of the MESA Club. Twelve of the MESA students would be competing once again in the regionals, which starts in the month April. "I am really proud of the students," said Mr. Poveda, "I think they did an amazing job."
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