Note! FINAL rules for 2025-26 MESA Day are now available! Any changes that were made from the draft rules will be highlighted in yellow.
Some competitions have changed from previous years. It is important to read the rules thoroughly for any competition you are planning to participate in.
CLICK HERE FOR MESA DAY LINKS AND INFORMATION
MESA Day 2026 will take place on February 28, 2026!
Middle School MESA Day is from 8am-12:30pm
High School MESA Day is from 12:30pm-4:30pm
High School MESA Day is from 12:30pm-4:30pm
*important note: Pacific will not be hosting the Crime Scene Science and Bio Breakthrough competitions at MESA Day.
If you are still interested in these competitions, please ask your advisor to speak with Pacific MESA about trying the competition at your school site for Spring Challenge.
If you are still interested in these competitions, please ask your advisor to speak with Pacific MESA about trying the competition at your school site for Spring Challenge.
MESA Day Engineering Lab Reports
Engineering Lab Reports are required for Pacific MESA Day.
The three competitions that require a Engineering Lab Report are MESA Machine, Cargo Gliders, and Moon Base.
ALL ENGINEERING LAB REPORTS ARE DUE BY FEBRUARY 13, 2026
Students should start on their Engineering Lab Report BEFORE they start building anything. This will help them to brainstorm, plan out their project, and stay organized just like a real engineer would do. The Lab Reports teach students the engineering design process.
Students must submit their Engineering Lab Report to their teacher before the deadline so their teacher can have time to upload the reports to the Advisor Google Drive.
Students can submit a digital report or a printed report which the teachers can scan and upload as a pdf file.
The file must be titled: Competition_School_Grade Division_Team Member Names
MESA Liaisons are available to help students with their lab books. To request a Liaison, please contact Rose or Jonathan.
Engineering Lab Reports will also be required at the Regional level for Moon Base, MESA Machine and Cargo Glider. The requirements and grading for the regional competition can be found at https://mesa.ucop.edu/resources/.
Lab Report Guidelines
Lab Report Slides Template
Lab Report Example
2023 Video from Teacher Training about Lab Notebooks: www.bigmarker.com/mesa-program/Session-4-MESA-Mathematics-New-Approaches-to-a-Foundational-Subject-2023?show_live_page=true
The three competitions that require a Engineering Lab Report are MESA Machine, Cargo Gliders, and Moon Base.
ALL ENGINEERING LAB REPORTS ARE DUE BY FEBRUARY 13, 2026
Students should start on their Engineering Lab Report BEFORE they start building anything. This will help them to brainstorm, plan out their project, and stay organized just like a real engineer would do. The Lab Reports teach students the engineering design process.
Students must submit their Engineering Lab Report to their teacher before the deadline so their teacher can have time to upload the reports to the Advisor Google Drive.
Students can submit a digital report or a printed report which the teachers can scan and upload as a pdf file.
The file must be titled: Competition_School_Grade Division_Team Member Names
MESA Liaisons are available to help students with their lab books. To request a Liaison, please contact Rose or Jonathan.
Engineering Lab Reports will also be required at the Regional level for Moon Base, MESA Machine and Cargo Glider. The requirements and grading for the regional competition can be found at https://mesa.ucop.edu/resources/.
Lab Report Guidelines
Lab Report Slides Template
Lab Report Example
2023 Video from Teacher Training about Lab Notebooks: www.bigmarker.com/mesa-program/Session-4-MESA-Mathematics-New-Approaches-to-a-Foundational-Subject-2023?show_live_page=true
Virtual Competitions
In-Person Competitions
Note: this is different than the National Engineering Design Challenge