Although we know that our competitors are deeply invested in their projects we must remember that we are gathered in the “spirit of competition” to celebrate and support the mission of MESA and the future successes of our students. This event is an opportunity to embrace the work of all competitors to connect and learn from each other. However, in order to successfully facilitate the competition we must implement the following guidelines:
- The NEDC Rules committee and volunteer judges have authority to make all decisions regarding the facilitation of the competition.
- Decisions made by the committee and judges are final.
- Once a final decision is rendered, a student who exhibits uncivil behavior about a decision, will be immediately disqualified from the event and scoring penalties may be assessed.
- Complaints may not be investigated nor will a ruling be changed once the MESA National Engineering Design Competition is complete.
There will be situations where students have questions about their designs that are related to the judging process. This is a wonderful opportunity for learning to occur and if approached appropriately, the judges will be asked to spend time with the students for discussion and design recommendations. In these cases, students should follow the guidelines below.
- Discussion and design questions should occur immediately after your performance and should pertain only to their project. Students should understand that judges may have other responsibilities that may limit their meeting time.
- Only the student competitor(s) can approach the judge for questions and feedback. Parents, other students, and MESA advisors should allow the student competitor(s) and judge(s) to conduct their discussion without interruption.
If you have questions or need clarification about this policy, please contact us at mesanedc@gmail.com. On behalf of MESA, thank you for your contributions, and we look forward to an exciting MESA USA National Engineering Design Competition!
