And just like that, it’s a wrap on our 2023 Demo Days! For the first time in three years, all of our regions got to experience the magic of an in-person Demo Day. Students stunned community members with their inventions centered on Designing for Environmental Justice. From automatic watering systems to portable humidity detectors, they showcased incredible creativity, vision, and skill. We are all so proud of their work!
Families came to support and cheer on their students, getting the opportunity to see them shine and present their ideas to a wide audience of industry professionals, partners, and MESA supporters. Elected officials also joined the events and praised our young inventors’ innovative ideas. We are so grateful for all of the volunteers, guests, exhibitors and Demo Day hosts who made these events possible! Check out pictures from the event in our Demo Day 2023 Photo Gallery, or keep on reading to find out more details about each event!
Demo Day 2023 Photo Gallery
Salem Demo Day
First, it was our OIT region teams’s turn to present on March 3rd at Willamette University for our Salem Demo Day. Students traveled from schools all over Clackamas county, Marion county, and nearby areas. Nineteen teams showcased their inventions, ranging from a portable humidity detector for a client experiencing asthma, to a metal-detecting rover for a soil scientist at the Bureau of Land management, and so many more! We are so grateful for the amazing volunteers that supported Salem Demo Day, and the exhibitors from Oregon Tech, Oregon State University College of Engineering, and Western Oregon University who showed our students the many pathways awaiting them post graduation!
Portland Metro Demo Day
After rescheduling due to severe weather conditions and lots of planning from our wonderful staff, on March 4th it was finally time for teams to bring their inventions to Daimler Truck North America for our Portland Metro Demo Day! The event featured eleven teams from schools in Multnomah, Washington & East counties and nearby areas. The inventions included a wearable device that alerts the user if the air is too hazardous, an automatic watering system based on soil moisture, and so many other amazing projects. Over forty (!) volunteers helped run the event, including exhibitors from Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon, PSU Agile and Adaptive Robotics Lab, PSU Center for Entrepreneurship, PSU Office of Undergraduate Admissions, SHPE Oregon, and UPLIFT Leadership.
A special thank you goes to our Awards Ceremony keynote speaker, Rihana Mungin. Rihana delivered an inspiring speech about her experiences, including “slime-ing” NASA astronauts, plant watering in anti-gravitational environments, and sending weave to space. Check out more of Rihana’s amazingness on her instagram.
Klamath Falls Demo Day
Finally, on March 15th students from Klamath Falls gathered at the Oregon Tech Klamath Falls campus for our last Demo Day of 2023. After a successful campus tour, twelve student teams presented their inventions to the Southern Oregon community, and got to interact with exhibitors from Southern Oregon University, Oregon Tech Gaming Program, and Oregon Tech Admissions. Stay tuned for a video of the event coming soon to our Youtube channel!
As our Demo Days 2023 have come to an end, it’s time for our community to get ready for MESA Day 2023. While the event is not open to the public, you can join us as a volunteer! Fill out our general volunteer interest form and stay tuned for more information.