by Darcy Todd | Sep 19, 2016 | News Slider
People of all ages gathered in Allen Arena this morning for the annual Music City Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology, or BEST, robotics competition kick-off event. The event is sponsored by NISSAN and Lipscomb University’s Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering. Seventeen teams are expecting to participate this year, including three rookie teams hoping to make their mark. BEST is a national, six-week competition held each fall in which middle and high schools design robots to perform tasks specific to the playing field. These tasks change every year. While teachers and parents supervise the building process, students must assemble the robots on their own using the parts provided in their kits. The teams will return to the field to compete with their robots on October 25th. Competition day involves over 70 volunteers who help referee and judge. Not only does each team have the chance to impress judges with the abilities of their robots, but also with the exhibits that will be set up around the arena. Each team will be judged on their engineering notebook, marketing presentation, team exhibit and interviews, spirit and sportsmanship and robot performance. The over-all competition process provides a unique opportunity for young students across the country to practice their engineering skills. This year, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) expressed interest in the program. The TVA is also sponsoring this year’s teams in Music City by awarding each team $100 in order to aid in the robot construction process. “I’ve done this since 6th grade,” Chloe, now an 8th grader at Cannon County High School, said. “I do engineering!” Shawn Williams, the Plant Manager of Car...
