A group in the southcoast has begun work in establishing a local chapter of a non-profit organization to establish a new robotics competition for Jr. High and High School students called BEST Robotics. The Boosting Engineering Science and Technology (BEST) Robotics competition provides students a look at engineering careers, the engineering design process, practical use of math and applied physics, group collaboration, program management and design-to-market product development. If anyone is interested in suggesting ideas, volunteering, or sponsoring the hub additional information can be provided.
The group has both short range and long range plans for this effort. With the short term being fairly straight forward but the long range requiring significant buy in from local and state education and legislation.
Short range plan
- Establish a Robotics Competition for Jr High and High School Students run by the new local hub and hosted at UMASS Dartmouth.
- This is a new opportunity for the New England area with huge growth potential – with very minimal costs to the participating schools.
- The BEST website: http://best.eng.auburn.edu/
Long range plan
- Partner with the University on multiple fronts – establishing a K-16 pipeline
- Partner the Hub with the UMASS infrastructure
- Start with Dartmouth – expand to all 4 major campuses
- Establish and evaluate a robotics curriculum to integrate into Jr High and High schools classrooms
- Aligns classroom and vocational shops with common theme
Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
