Wallace State hosting BEST Robotics BASH

JANUARY 13, 2011, HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Wallace State Community College will host the inaugural BEST Robotics BASH on Tuesday, Jan. 17 from 9 am to 10:30 a.m. at the Student Center.

The BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) Robotics BASH is a kickoff event to showcase the BEST robotics competition, which is held each October. The event gives local middle school and high school teams the opportunity to use their knowledge and talents in engineering, science and technology to compete in sports-like robotics competition.  

BEST Award competitors are also required to prepare engineering notebooks about their robot, display a team booth honoring the competition theme on the day of the competition, conduct a marketing presentation about the product, and compete in the spirit category in which school pep bands, cheering sections and mascots played a part, giving students with diverse talents a role in the team’s success.

The BEST Robotics BASH will provide college employees, local high school and middle school administrators, the community and area businesses and industry a look at the benefits of getting involved with the BEST Robotics event in the fall.

“We’ve invited a many industries, businesses and school administrators and counselors from our service area to attend this event. We would love to see more involvement from the community during our BEST competition in the fall and hope this event gives them a better awareness of all that is involved,” said BEST event organizer Kelley Jones, Wallace State Adult Education Director and former electronics instructor. “We want them to see the talent each of these students and teams have and give them the opportunity to possibly adopt a team, serve as mentors or donate supplies to a school down the road.”

Hartselle Junior High, Holly Pond High and Fairview were the top three winners at Wallace State’s 2011 North Alabama BEST event and each advanced to the South’s BEST Regional competition, held at Auburn University in November. All three schools are expected to be at the preview bash along with other invited teams.

Jones said each team participating will have tables set up in the Student Center, demonstrating and explaining the success of their robot from last year and will be readily available to answer questions from guests in hopes of improving their job interview skills. During the fall event, each team is judged on a handful of criteria, including its robot’s ability to succeed on the playing field, a marketing and booth presentation describing the evolution of the robot and theme, team spirit and website design.

For more information about the BEST Robotics BASH, contact Jones at (256) 352-8077.