MAES Science Extravaganza™

If you would like to sponsor or participate in our next Science Extravaganza please contact our advisor or president. Thanks to the many great sponsors that have already contributed their time, effort, and resources to Texas State MAES.

The Texas State University MAES Science Extravaganza™ is a full day event of hands-on interactive engineering and science presentations designed to give students a unique opportunity to learn about various fields in a fun and educational environment. Equally important, the extravaganza gives an ethnically diverse group of students an opportunity to visit a university campus and meet college students and professionals with similar backgrounds. The event has created a collaborative partnership between academia, government and industry sponsors that share an interest in the education and development of our future leaders.

The MAES Southwest Texas University student chapter established the MAES Science Circus in 1994. The initial intent was to promote the fields of biology and physics to high school students from San Marcos High.

In 1995 the chapter decided to change the programs name to the "Science Extravaganza". The event took place in April of 1995, hosting 17 high school seniors. The students had an opportunity to ask questions regarding the science programs and university life

In 1996 the chapter again made changes to the program. The focus shifted to a younger pre-high school audience in order to motivate students to take challenging courses that will enhance their high school college preparation in all fields including science and engineering. SWT MAES invited 100 fifth graders from Maria Hernandez Intermediate School (San Marcos) to attend the Science Extravaganza™.

During the preparations for the 1997 and 1998 Science Extravaganza™, the student chapter decided to expand the program and invited 200 fifth & sixth grade students from the Maria Hernandez School. In subsequent years, the concept of the Science Extravaganza™ was refined into an event that gained popularity, positive notoriety and endorsement from the Southwest Texas University Administration, San Marcos CISD, City Council of San Marcos, former Texas Governor George Bush, and the MAES National organization.

In 1999 the Science Extravaganza™ at Southwest Texas marked the first time that the event obtained corporate sponsorship. Sponsors for this event included IBM, Advanced Micro Devices and the San Marcos Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The success of the SWT Science Extravaganza™ prompted the MAES National Board of Directors to attend the event and to eventually promote it to the entire MAES organization as a model for chapter outreach activity.

In order to implement the Science Extravaganza™ at other university campuses, MAES student representatives were invited to attend the SWT Science Extravaganza™. MAES student representatives were present from the University of Texas, El Paso; University of Houston, University of Texas, San Antonio, San Antonio College, Texas A&M University, Stanford University, California State University, Fullerton and California State University, Long Beach.

In 2001 several MAES student and professional chapters hosted a Science Extravaganza™. This trend has continued with events taking place in various parts of the nation and receiving the same amount of success and acceptance. Without question, the Science Extravaganza™ has become one of the most influential educational programs conducted by the Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists.