What: 17th Annual Kansas BEST robotics competition
When: 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31
Where: Hartman Arena, Park City
Phone: 316-978-3045 (WSU Office of Strategic Communications)
Cost: Free
The 17th Annual Kansas BEST robotics competition, designed to inspire and motivate high school students toward careers in engineering, science and technology, will be held from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, in Hartman Arena. Kansas BEST is sponsored by Wichita State University’s College of Engineering.
Thirty schools from all areas of Kansas, one from Arkansas and one from Missouri will compete in the Kansas BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) event. This year’s game is called “Pay Dirt.” The objective is to design and build a prototype robot to repair and operate a simulated underground mine. There are several materials that can be extracted from the mine that are used to score points.
Students will give their robots a trial run on Practice Day from 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, Oct. 24, at Wichita State’s Heskett Center. Wichita City Council member Pete Meitzner will bring a proclamation to Practice Day at the Heskett Center, proclaiming Oct. 31 as Kansas BEST Day in the city of Wichita.
The sports-like technology contest combines the excitement of a high school football game with the strategy of a chess match and the intellectual challenge of a science fair. Working from identical kits, each team has six weeks to design and build their robot.
The 2015 game includes an additional competition for the BEST Award, which goes to the team that best embodies the concept of Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology.
Major sponsors for Kansas BEST are Textron Aviation, Spirit AeroSystems, Airbus and Great Plains Ventures.
Winners of Kansas BEST 2015 will travel to Fort Smith, Ark., to compete in the Frontier Trails Regional Competition hosted by the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith at the Fort Smith Convention Center Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4-5.
For more information, visit the Kansas BEST website at www.wichita.edu/kansasbest.
