One of the seven components of the RIMESA program is for teams of 2-4 students to prepare for participating in state and national level design and invention competitions.
Each year in the fall, RIMESA will provide a set of design and invention challenges to participating middle and high schools to prepare for state level middle and high school competition of MESA teams. One middle school and one high school team will be selected by experts in the field to represent RI at the NEDC (see below).
RIMESA plans to hold the state level competitions, MESA Day, each year in May. So that the winning teams will have sufficient time to prepare for the national competition.
Prizes will be awarded for first, second, and third placed teams. All participating teams will receive a swag package during the MESA Day.
The theme for 2023 – 2024 NEDC is Designing for Equity in Your Community.
RIMESA is planning a state competition in May 2024 with a local theme of Healthy People, Healthy CommUNITY.
RIMESA State Competition
RIMESA middle and high school students have the opportunity to participate in the state competition in May 2024. This year’s state theme is Healthy People, Healthy CommUNITY.
National Engineering Design Competition (NEDC)
Each year in June, MESA USA conducts the National Engineering Design Competition (NEDC) for middle school and high school MESA state winners. NEDC competitions address specific themes in three-year cycles. The theme for 2022 – 2023 is Designing for Equity in Your Community. MESA states take turns in hosting the competition for two years each. Gabriella Cruz, Ashley Esteban Lopez, Ariana Ruiz-Lopez, and Berenice Trejo Zamudio from Central Falls High School competed in the NEDC in New Mexico in 2023 and you can read about their project here. California will host the competition in 2024.
- NEDC: https://nedc.mesausa.org/
- NEDC Overview: https://nedc.mesausa.org/nedc-overview/
- NEDC Code of Conduct: https://nedc.mesausa.org/nedc-overview/code-of-conduct/