RICHLAND, Wash. — Nearly 250 middle and high school students from southeastern Washington challenged each other to build a better prosthetic arm thanks to a $15,000 gift from Bechtel National Inc. to the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement program of Yakima Valley/Tri-Cities.
“For more than twenty years, MESA has bridged the opportunity gap for underrepresented students to help them envision a successful future and achieve their goals for college and careers,” said Neiri Carrasco, Director, Yakima Valley/Tri-Cities MESA. “Bechtel’s support of the Yakima Valley/Tri-Cities MESA program is vital in helping students in our local community foster a love of lifelong learning while acquiring the skills needed to go on to careers in STEM fields.”
Bechtel has a corporate commitment to programs, such as MESA, that inspire students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. The competition was part of today’s MESA Day Prosthetic Arm Challenge at Washington State University Tri-Cities.
“The MESA program is a perfect choice for this gift because of its work to promote STEM education throughout Eastern Washington,” said Bechtel’s Frank Russo, project director for the Waste Treatment Plant project. “We look forward to welcoming these students as the next generation of scientists and engineers to build projects like WTP.”
About 60 teams took up the challenge of making prosthetic arms work better and be more comfortable. Students from the Pasco, Granger, Mount Adams, Sunnyside and Toppenish school districts participated in the competition.
Bechtel engineer John Olson spoke at the awards ceremony and presented medals to the competition winners. He also joined several other employees from WTP as volunteer judges for the event.
“Programs such as MESA inspire students to change the world with their ideas,” Olson said.
A global leader in the engineering and construction industry, Bechtel is committed to helping develop the next generation of scientists and engineers through programs such as MESA. The company provides scholarships and financial contributions to organizations that foster science, technology, engineering and math learning and supports employee volunteer initiatives related to STEM and construction.
About:
Bechtel National Inc. is designing and building the world’s largest radioactive waste treatment plant for the U.S. Department of Energy at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington state. The Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, also known as the Vit Plant, will immobilize the radioactive liquid waste stored in 177 underground tanks using a process called vitrification.
Vitrification involves blending the waste with molten glass and heating it to high temperatures. The mixture is then poured into stainless steel canisters. In this glass form, the waste is stable and impervious to the environment, and its radioactivity will dissipate over hundreds to thousands of years.
The Vit Plant will cover 65 acres with four nuclear facilities – Pretreatment, Low-Activity Waste Vitrification, High-Level Waste Vitrification and Analytical Laboratory – as well as operations and maintenance buildings, utilities and office space. Construction of the WTP began in 2001. For more information about Bechtel visit www.hanfordvitplant.com.