On Friday, Feb. 24, MESA members and some students with fewer than 2 log-entries went to the University of Southern California (USC) for a day of fun and creativity. HMSA and a few other schools had the opportunity of taking their students on an all-expense paid trip to USC‘s Engineer Day. These lucky HMSA students left school at around 8:30 am and got on a bus provided by USC. Freshmen Giovanni R. excitedly stated, ¨[The bus] was really huge. It even had a restroom in it! It was comfortable to have the one-hour trips in.¨

Once the bus arrived at USC, the students were escorted onto the campus and signed up to participate in the main competition. When signing up, students received a name tag with a number on it. There were twenty tables labeled with different numbers to show where each team was supposed to go, according to their name tag number. As soon as the students found their assigned table, they got the chance to meet with their team members for a while. The teams contained students from various schools, but some HMSA students were joined by fellow classmates in their randomized groups. Giovanni really enjoyed his experience in his diverse group: “It was pretty fun since I got to meet new people. I learned how to get things done in a limited period of time with peers whose strengths and weaknesses are unknown to you.” 

After a short time of getting to know their teammates, the students were given their objective: each team was required to find a way to build an air propulsion vehicle in approximately one hour. USC students provided each team with twenty “USC dollars” to buy materials. The materials available for purchase were balloons, straws, tape, plastic, foam and paper cups, plastic washers, CDs, rubber bands, cotton balls, wooden wheels, skewers, and markers. All items had a price attached to them, so teams had to make a decision on what to buy for their vehicle. Over the course of an hour, teams had to work together to make a car, with a balloon attached to it, go the farthest distance possible. Once the hour was up, teams were told not to touch their cars until it was time for the judging. Teams one, two, and three were first up to present their cars to the judges, while teams twenty, nineteen, and eighteen went to get lunch. USC provided free Subway To-Go lunch to all of its visitors, offering turkey, ham, or veggie sandwiches. The same pattern continued until all students had their lunch and presented their vehicles. When presenting, a team’s car was judged on how far it traveled, how well it performed with obstacles (mini speed bumps), and creativity.

After the launch and lunch, three of the groups were combined and led by USC students to different workshops while the judges made their final decisions on the cars. The workshop teachers spoke about college, engineering, and general information about life after high school. Then, all teams met up with one another in a small auditorium to hear the winners. However, before the winners were announced, the teams got to hear from a keynote speaker. Moises Navarez, an aerospace engineer, spoke to the high school students about reaching their goals. His main motto was “anything is possible.” Next, the same USC coordinator of the event, Millie, announced the winners of each category by team number. Three teams won in total and the students got to choose from three prizes: a USC Viterbi folder, a USC Viterbi bumper sticker, or Google sunglasses.

HMSA students had a blast at this event. Giovanni admitted, ¨I was worrying and wondering if we would finish the project in one hour. It seemed difficult at first, but my group got through it and we came up with a cool vehicle. It did not work very well due to its heavy weight, but many other groups got their vehicles to work. It felt awesome to see cars move with just the power of air movement.¨

After a long day of stress and fun, the students made their way back to the bus for a short ride to school. This event was an experience they will not forget.