University of Cincinnati s 2005 Bearcat BEST Offers Area Students Opportunities to Compete Robot y Robot

The BEST Robotics Competition features teams of junior- and senior-high students who spend six weeks designing and constructing their robot from pre-packaged kits of materials. UC will provide all materials — boxes containing nuts, bolts, wheels, motor parts and other sundry useful items — to the competing schools at the kick-off.

At that time, the teachers and students will also see the game floor and hear the year’s goals for the first time. The teams are then given six weeks to design and test their robots. Mentors from UC and area professionals are teamed up with the schools to provide guidance and answer questions, but the students themselves must design and construct the robots.

On Mall Day, Oct. 15, the teams will get to see the actual game floor for the first time. Then they have a week to tweak their designs before the big event. The competition culminates with a day-long, sports-like competition on Game Day, Oct. 22, from which the winners advance to the BEST regionals at Auburn, Ala.

This is the third year that the University of Cincinnati’s College of Applied Science and College of Engineering have collaborated to sponsor the competition locally. Last year, more than 150 students from 10 area schools participated in “BEST Fever,” with Scott County and Roger Bacon high schools taking top honors. The 2004 Bearcat BEST was the first time a school from Kentucky had competed.

BEST is the acronym for "Boosting Engineering Science and Technology," a non-profit, volunteer organization whose goals include increasing the “pipeline” of future engineers, scientists and technical professionals. Each fall more than 8,000 students (representing more than 700 middle and high schools) participate nation-wide.

For more information about Bearcat BEST, call Cheryll Dunn at (513) 556-6561 or Ken Simonson at (513) 556-5437.

To register your school’s team, contact

Sherri Cmar

at (513) 556-6561 no later than Sept. 2.

More information is available through the BEST Web site.

For more about past Bearcat BEST competitions, check out these links:

Two Area High Schools Win Awards at “South’s BEST” Robotics Competition

UC Saves the BEST for Last — Four Area High Schools Win UC Competition, Head Off to Alabama

UC’s Second-Annual BEST Robotics Competition Kicks Off with 11 Schools at the Starting Line

Area Teenagers Get It in Gear When BEST Robotics Competition Kicks Off at UC Sept. 25