Oregon MESA Holds ‘Demo Day’ Student Showcase During Engineers Week

The Oregon chapter of MESA (Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement) is excited to host their annual Demo Day community showcase event February 25th, 2023 happening at Daimler Truck North America from 10:00 am until 12:00 pm.

MESA is an after school program which equips public school teachers to help underserved, underrepresented, and low-income middle and high school students excel in STEM through hands-on invention education. In alignment with MESA’s annual theme: Climate Action: Designing for Environmental Justice, the program’s middle and high school student teams have been working with a client in their community to ensure equal access to environmental resources and protection from environmental threats for everybody. They have been developing a solution using the principles of human-centered design and invention education.

“We are thrilled to host Demo Day in person again across all of our regions,” says Elizabeth Stock, Interim Executive Director at Oregon MESA. “This year we are focusing on environmental justice across our programs. The climate justice movement, which has primarily been led by underrepresented communities, is committed to ensuring that everyone has the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards so that we may live, play, work, and learn safely within our communities. Here at MESA, we understand that approaches to climate action must be intersectional, and are uniquely positioned to take into account the disproportionate ways Black and brown communities are impacted. Our approach must center the voices of BIPOC climate justice leaders and uplift the environmental practices of Indigenous communities. Our student inventors, historically underrepresented in STEM fields, bring diverse and necessary perspectives to the issue, and we look forward to seeing invention in action at Demo Day.”

During Demo Day, as many as two hundred sixth through twelfth grade students will pitch their climate justice focused invention projects to a group of volunteer judges with industry expertise.

With MESA’s emphasis on educational equity and removing geographic barriers, a total of three regional Demo Day events will take place:

• Portland Metro Demo Day – Saturday, February 25th at Daimler Truck North America, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. This Demo Day features students attending schools across Multnomah, Washington & East Counties and nearby areas.
• Salem Demo Day – Friday, March 3rd at Willamette University, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. This Demo Day features students from Marion and Clackamas County Schools.
• Klamath Falls Demo Day – Thursday, March 16th at Oregon Tech – Klamath Falls Campus, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. This Demo Day features MESA students across Klamath Falls and surrounding areas.

Portland Metro Demo Day will be held on Saturday, February 25th at Daimler Trucks North America from 10:00 am until 12:00 pm. and will be open to the public. Registration and additional information can be found at this registration link.

MESA’s Portland Demo Day event is strategically being held during Engineers Week (February 19th–25th, 2023). Founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers, Engineers Week is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers.

The Lemelson Foundation is the Premier Sponsor of Demo Day. Additional partners include Portland State University, Portland Children’s Levy, Daimler Truck North America, Oregon Tech, and Willamette University.