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MESA LAB Outreach Activities

MESA Lab Outreach Activities

The MESA lab is committed to community outreach, both within the UC Merced campus and the local Merced/Atwater community


  • 8/26/2022. 2022 USDA Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates (REEU) San Joaquin Valley Food and Agriculture Cyberinformatics Tools and Science (FACTS) Bridge program Day! Thank you MESA's lab co-manager Miguel Craven for recruiting students. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our table! It was great meeting you all. See pictures (taken by Di) from below:                     
  • 8/17/2022.  Miguel Craven (left) and his partner present their work at the USDA-NIFA Summer Bridge Program and Poster Session entitled "Farmer's Field Friend(F3Bot): Autonomous Control System Designs". See the image below:

                                                                                                     

  • 04/24/2019. Jeffrey Ng presents his work at the Student Success Internship Symposium and Poster Session. See picture from below:

  • 04/13/2019. Bobcat Day! Thank you MESA's lab manager Madoka Oyama for recruiting students. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our table! It was great meeting you all. See pictures (taken by Julia Mathur from UCM ESL -- thank you!) from below:

 

  • 03/27/2019. Approximately 120 middle school students from Fresno visits UC Merced through the Central Trio Talent Search Program.
    • Thank you Moataz Dahabra for the discussion on drones and robotics in research and school.
    • Thank you to our previous lab manager, Tomny Hang for the engaging students in the Engineering Marshmallow Challenge. See pictures from below: 

  • 03/22/2019 & 04/04/2019. Pioneer Elementary visits. Read more here, and see pictures from below:

  • 10/09/2018. Joshua Ahmed, Madoka Oyama, Tomny Hang, and Christopher Currier present their work at the Fall 2018 Research Mixer at UC Merced. See pictures from below:

  • 10/06/2018. Thank you undergraduate students Tomny Hang and Joshua Ahmed and graduate student Jose Alcala for sharing their experience with research in college and a live drone demonstration at the Young's Men Conference at Livingston Middle School. See pictures from below.

 

 

 

  • 10/30/2017 Walnut Grove School UC Merced School of Engineering Visit @ MESA Lab 9:30-10:45am.  (Youtube) (Intel Aero). Thanks go to Guoxiang Zhang, Derek Hollenbeck, Greg Nunez for demos and demo flights.

 

 

  • 10/12/2017 Merced County Office of Education - Career Industry Day 2017.  Each year the Merced County Office of Education – CTE/ROP holds our annual Career Industry Day for students from Merced County's 13 high schools. They will be taking over the entire fairgrounds, hosting a half-day of career awareness, exploration and discovery covering all industry sectors.So far, confirmations of over 1,400 student attendees have been received! Students will hear a Keynote speaker and will have time to visit displays in 4 exhibit buildings (in addition to large outdoor displays). MESA Lab reps Derek, Guoxiang, Greg, and Erick tabled there with drones and drone shows.
  • 06/15/2017 & 06/22/2017. lab tours. 3 hours each, hosting CSU Stanislau's Leadership Experiences in Agricultural Development & Sciences (LEADS) Program funded by USDA led by Oluwarotimi Odeh, PhD., MBA, Professor and Rolland Starn Endowed Chair, Agricultural Studies, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA 95382; Tel: (209) 667-3961;Fax: (209) 664-6649;Email: oodeh1@csustan.edu
    • MESA LAB hosts are Tiebiao Zhao, Alexus Garcia, Allan and Greg - thanks. Including our field mission of drone remote sensing of almond experimental field. (agenda)
  • 06/01/2017. MESA LAB ag scientific data drone flight demos at UAV ("Drone") Field Meeting

 

 

 

 

  • 05/23/2017. AG Day Ballico School District led by Sara White, Development Officer, Development and Alumni Relations, University of California, Merced.
    • Greg Nunez did drone demos for many sessions.

 


 

 

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Lots of undocumented outreach activities. Past Projects:
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  • 04/18/2014. A Day for Education

    • The MESA Lab participated in an afterschool event called 'A Day for Education' sponsored by the Boys & Girls Club and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) to introduce science and engineering research and opportunities to local high school and middle school students in Merced.

  • 04/12/2014. Bobcat Day
    • The MESA Lab made a presence at Bobcat Day, a special day for admitted students and their families to explore the University and learn about the academic and student life opportunities at UC Merced. 

 

Circuits Explained

A joint collaboration with the Robotics Society at UC Merced

The MESA LAB presents a two hour workshop tutorial every Friday afternoon on electronic circuits.  The topics start with circuitry basics and goes all the way to microcontroller programming of robotic systems. Hosted by the Robotics Society @ UC Merced.

 

UC Merced Fall Preview Day

A special day for prospective students and their families on Saturday, October 19, 2013.

The MESA Lab set up a booth at UC Merced Preview Day to showcase the undergraduate research opportunities available at UC Merced.

 

Merced River Fair, June 1st, 2013

At the Merced River Fair we provided outreach to the ecological science community as well as the general public by showing many of the functions unmanned aerial systems can perform in an agricultural or ecological setting. The main display was the AquaCopter, a waterproof quad-rotor perfect for research applications in rivers or wetlands.  We also showed a fixed wing aircraft and a quad-rotor flying demonstration using the AR Drone.

 

IMAA, May 24-26, 2013

The International Miniature Aircraft Association (IMAA) put together a giant scale (80” wingspan min.) festival during Memorial Day Weekend. MESA Lab was invited to occupy a booth to educate and learn from passersby about UAVs and sUAS. MESA Lab displayed the Print’N’Fly 3D printed UAV, Hexarotor, FunCub, and 3D printed control horns (which were handed out). There were many exciting demonstrations that ranged from War Bird flights, to flying “3D” aerobatic planes. Overall, MESA Lab was well received by the IMAA and their fans.

Bobcat Day, April 13th, 2013

The MESA Lab made a presence at Bobcat Day, a special day for admitted students and their families to explore the University and learn about the academic and student life opportunities at UC Merced. 

Circuits Explained

A joint collaboration with the Robotics Society at UC Merced

The MESA LAB presents a two hour workshop tutorial every Saturday on electronic circuits.  The topics start with circuitry basics and goes all the way to microcontroller programming of robotic systems. Hosted by the Robotics Society @ UC Merced.

Aftershock Hosted by the Robotics Society @ UCMerced

The MESA Lab made a presence at Aftershock, a celebration of technology hosted by the Robotics Society @ UCMerced on Friday, November 9th, 2012.  This event was designed to give students, faculty and the community the chance to showcase their projects.

UC Merced Preview Day

A special day for prospective students and their families on Saturday, October 13, 2012.

The MESA Lab set up a booth at UC Merced Preview Day to showcase the undergraduate research opportunities available at UC Merced.

 

UC Merced Bobcat Day 2015

A special day for admitted, interested transfer applicants and their families on Saturday, April 11, 2015.