10/28/05 Contact: Cheryl Cobb, 334/844-2220 (cobbche@auburn.edu)
Carol Nelson, 334/844-8121 (nelsoc4@auburn.edu)
David Granger, 334/844-9999 (grangdm@auburn.edu)

STUDENTS PREPARE FOR BEST ROBOTICS COMPETITION

AUBURN – Teams of high school students from the eastern U.S. are preparing for the 2005 South’s BEST Robotics Competition to be held Nov. 4 - 5 on the Auburn University campus.

BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) is a non-profit volunteer organization that links educators and technology through participation in a sports-like, science and engineering-based robotics competition designed to interest middle and high school students in engineering, math and science careers.

This year’s competition began in September when sponsor-provided kits of standardized parts were distributed and teams began to design and build their remote-controlled robots. In October, the teams competed at 26 BEST hub sites in 10 states. The winners of these competitions now head to Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum for the South’s BEST regional finals.

This year’s theme is “Mission to Hubble.” The public is invited to attend the robotics event on Saturday, Nov. 5. The event begins at 9 a.m. and culminates with finals at 3 p.m. Special guest Story Musgrave, one of NASA’s most experienced astronauts and the only one to have flown on all five Space Shuttles, will speak at 2:30 p.m.

The South’s BEST is sponsored by the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and the College of Sciences and Mathematics at Auburn University.

“This event is fun and a great way to spend an afternoon with your family,” says George Blanks, BEST co-director. “The teams bring displays, pep bands, cheerleaders and mascots – as well as their robots – so there’s plenty to see. It’s rare that an academic event generates this kind of energy.”

Log on to http://www.southsbest.org/ for more information. If you are interested in becoming a BEST sponsor or volunteer, please contact George Blanks at 334-844-5759 or blankgw@eng.auburn.edu or Mary Lou Ewald at 334-844-5745 or ewaldml@auburn.edu.

Auburn University is a preeminent land-grant and comprehensive research institution with more than 23,000 students and 6,500 faculty and staff. Ranked among the top 50 public universities nationally, Auburn is Alabama’s largest educational institution, offering more than 230 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs.

(Contributed by Cheryl Cobb; photo of Musgrave available upon request.)

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