MESA is a college and career prep engine that propels student diversity and achievement in science, technology, engineering and math. MESA stands for math engineering science achievement. Students create projects and participate in hands on activities that help build their confidence in public speaking and in the areas of science. They participate in a MESA day competition at Fresno State.

     The MESA Day Competitions are the focal point of the MESA hands‐on projects for both middle and high school students.  Competitions range from designing a mousetrap car or windmill to creating a website to giving a speech about a current topic in science or engineering.  

     Students who place in the preliminary competition at Fresno State advance to a
Regional‐level competition. The Regional competition is held at one of four universities in the Central MESA region—Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, or Fresno State—on a rotating basis.