Usually kite flying is a spring activity, but MESA members went to fly kites in late January. About a dozen people learned about the spatial geometry of tetrahedrons as they built four tetrahedral kites out of straws, string, and tissue paper on January 25 in an activity planned by Eryn Schmidt for her Math/Science Pathway project. A tetrahedron is a three-faced pyramid with equilateral triangles for all its faces. Due to a lack of wind, they were unable to send them soaring over the parking lot as planned. “It doesn’t take much to fly them,” Mrs. Lange commented, but there was no wind at all. Plans are to fly them in March, or as soon as possible.
   A pair of electrical engineers from Hill Air Force Base gave a short presentation on February 9. Engineering requires a good imagination and skill with math, they said. “If you get the numbers wrong and you’re building a rocket to hit the moon, you’ll hit New York.” It also pays well, they said. Starting engineers at HAFB make $32 per hour, and senior engineers make over $50 per hour. HAFB hires 100 engineers each year, and pays graduate
school tuition for those it hires with only bachelors’ degrees. “Do what you like to do,” they said, but “all things being equal, my advice would be to be an electrical engineer.
   ”Upcoming events for MESA are an astronomy day and, beginning February 23rd, a three-week project about wind energy done collaboratively with the University of Utah.