When it comes to encouraging students to pursue careers in math, science and technology, it’s fair to say they’re getting things in gear here.
That’s been the goal this week at the Inaugural BEST Robotics (Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology) National Conference on the Auburn University campus. The event ends today.
BEST is a nonprofit, volunteer organization whose goal is to interest middle- and high-school students in engineering and science careers through participation in robotics competitions.
Teachers from schools with BEST programs across the country spent the week participating in a series of workshops, listening to discourses and networking with one another, hoping to incorporate what they learn into their own BEST programs, said George Blanks, executive director of BEST Robotics Inc. and director of K-12 engineering outreach for the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.
BEST’s official headquarters are now based at Auburn University, Blanks said.
“It’s a goal we’ve been working toward for about five years,” Blanks said.
“Alabama will hopefully become the model for other states looking to launch their own BEST programs,” he said.
BEST Inc. started in Dallas in the early 1990s with only 14 competing schools and 221 students.
Today more than 700 schools and 10,000 students participate in BEST Robotics competitions each fall.
Auburn University’s Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum will be the host site for the South’s BEST Robotics competition Dec. 11-12.
But beyond the competitions, Blanks said the long-term benefits of BEST are the educational partnerships and alliances educators and students build with members of the scientific and engineering industries.
“Students participating in BEST competitions are using mathematics and science concepts to assemble a robot today, but employers know that these are the same kids that will comprise the workforce of tomorrow,” he said.
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