More Than Research: MESA Students Build Confidence, Community, and Their Futures - Crafton Hills College
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Publish Date: Oct. 6, 2026

Participants at MESA Research Symposium

On September 15, Crafton Hills College (CHC) held the MESA Research Symposium in the Roadrunner Café. This event was organized as a means of offering STEM/MESA students the opportunity to showcase the research projects they completed over the summer. The event included 14 student presenters and over 100 attendees, as people filled the Roadrunner Café, eager to learn about the students’ research experience and findings.

The presenters included MESA students who participated in an 8-week research experience at CHC, California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB), and the University of California Riverside (UCR) across various disciplines, including biology, chemistry, entomology, physics & astronomy, material science, and microbiology. 

There was also a team of 11 STEM students who participated in the CA Space Grant project, who designed and built Project Heimdall, a low-cost radio telescope observatory with the goal of detecting neutral hydrogen in the Milky Way.

Students participating in the MESA Research Program completed up to 22 hours of hands-on field and lab research, along with weekly professional development, to support them in preparing a formal research poster. This opportunity allowed students to experience collegiate-level research firsthand, contribute to the real-world application of the concepts they have been learning in class, and start building a network as they prepare for transfer. 

For Project Heimdall, the students worked in teams to build the radio telescope: Team 1 was responsible for the physical build of the telescope, assembling the feed, and celestial navigation. Team 2 was responsible for the wiring from the antenna to the software-defined radio, filtering the signal, and improving signal quality. Team 3 was responsible for creating the computer program to take readings, save data, and create calibrated visual graphs.

One of the student presenters shared that this experience made her feel recognized and capable as a Hispanic woman pursuing a degree in chemistry and that every day, she would leave her lab and want to tell her family about the work she was doing. She explained that being able to do chemistry outside of class has been very motivating, and she now believes in herself more than she ever did.

When asked about the event, CHC’s MESA Director Dr. Krysten Audibert, said she would like to recognize the faculty advisors who supported both groups of students during these research experiences. “Their support has been crucial to the success of these opportunities,” she noted:

  • MESA Research Program: Jillian Robertson (mathematics), Anh Nguyen (physics), Dr. Christopher Olivera (microbiology), and Dr. Andrea Dillon (microbiology).
  • CA Space Grant: Sandra Ruiz (computer science), Jasmine Ojeda (computer information systems)

The MESA Research Program that fuels this event is in its third year and holds many promises for STEM/MESA students at CHC. Each year, the program reaches more students and further expands CHC’s partnerships with both CSUSB and UCR. 

Furthermore, CHC’s CA Space Grant team was invited to NASA’s Armstrong Flight and Research Center over the summer to present their radio telescope and explore the applications of their project to the aerospace industry.

This is one of the most impactful opportunities for MESA students by far, and the CHC community is excited to see what future years hold. 

For more information about STEM/MESA at CHC, visit craftonhills.edu/stem