From drafting techniques to hands-on construction, students in MESA get the opportunity to compete professionally in math, science, engineering, and technology. What was originally a club at HP in 2018, has since become an official Magnet course, open to more than 130 students.
MESA isn’t just about competitions—it’s about developing critical thinking, problem solving, and effective communication skills. Students work on innovative projects that help them to learn to collaborate and think outside the box.
Currently, the program is guided by three dedicated Magent advisors: Science teacher Hannah Romias, Math teacher Ramiro Gonzalez, and Math teacher Kristian Bermudez.
Ms.Romias has been part of MESA since it was first incorporated at HP. A UCLA graduate with an engineering and environmental science background, she had played a key role in growing the program.
What started as a club of just 14 students has now expanded to over 130, showing the increasing interest in STEM education at the school.
Regardless of the challenges of managing students with different projects, Ms.Romias continues to be amazed by their innovative skills.
“All teams and projects have a different personality and bring different skills and experiences.” expressed Ms. Romias.
At the recent MESA Prelims at Cal State LA, many students earned awards. For seniors, the National Engineering Design Competition (NEDC), was significantly interesting. Among them stood out—such as ROBO GO GO, a robotic dog to support autistic children, and Green Thumb, a home hydroponics system—which showcase engineering’s impact on real-world issues.
Now in his second year as an advisor, Mr.Gonzalez grows excited to see his students’ creativity in their projects.
“This is what I want to do. I’m glad I’m here, and I hope I continue to do it. It’s easy to have a plan but it helps to go off norm to be more creative. ” says Mr. Gonzalez.
He encourages students to think creatively and adapt when faced with challenges.
One of the most challenging projects, the MESA Machine, requires students to build a mechanism that performs a series of chain reactions to complete a task.
Gonzalez notes that while this project was tough, it left students with a “hunger for next year.” Moving forward, he hopes to bring more ideas to the table, encouraging students to approach problems from new perspectives.
For Emily Negrete, the competition was both a challenge and a learning experience.
“It helped me change my design and think about how to improve next year.” says Emily, a MESA 2 student.
Preparing for prelims tested her problem-solving skills, especially when working on the MESA Machine project. Compared to MESA 1, she found MESA 2 to be more complex due to changing regulations.
“It’s like the Rube Goldberg machine. It’s more complex than a Moon Base or Cargo Glider because everything has to work perfectly the first time.” expressed Emily.
Despite these challenges, MESA has been a rewarding experience.
“It’s an opportunity to learn more about engineering and even consider it a future career. Confidence is important—it’s hard to succeed when you doubt yourself, but this program gives us the motivation to improve.”
With passionate advisors and dedicated students, MESA is shaping the future of engineering—one project at a time.
Written By: Genevie C, Staff Writer