A team from George Washington Carver High School for Engineering and Science, representing Temple College of Engineering’s Pennsylvania MESA (Math Engineering Science Achievement) initiative, won second place in the prestigious MESA USA National Engineering Design Competition in Portland, Oregon.

The Carver team of Jesus Davaloz, Kai Tinsley, Marcus Seawright Jr. and George Baidoo Jr., designed and built a functioning prosthetic arm that had to perform three distinct tasks: pick up a ball and throw it for distance and accuracy, lift and relocate different objects of various sizes and weights, and place a screw through a hole and then attach a nut on the end.

Back in April, the team won a qualifying competition at Temple’s College of Engineering for the honor of representing Pennsylvania MESA and Temple at the national competition against teams from nine other states that have MESA programs.

“Last year Pennsylvania MESA medaled at the national MESA competition, but this year they took second place overall in the prosthetic arm competition,” said Jamie Bracey, director of STEM education, outreach and education in the College of Engineering and founding director of Pennsylvania MESA. “This is an amazing result against powerhouse teams from states like California, New Mexico and Maryland, as well as a testament to outstanding students we have coming to Temple to participate in Pennsylvania MESA.”

Lead by the College of Engineering, Pennsylvania MESA initiative is a K-12 program designed to prepare students for academic and professional careers in mathematics, engineering, science and technology.