Members of the Academy of Technology, Engineering, Math & Science (ATEMS) Robotics Team are making their final preparations for the 2017 BEST of Texas and UIL State Robotics Championship.
Nineteen ATEMS students will compete for state honors Dec. 7 – 8 at the University of Texas at Dallas and the Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco. These students qualified for the state competition by earning several awards on Oct. 21 at the Big Country BEST Robotics contest in Sweetwater.
The BEST Robotics competition is about much more than building a robot. Students work for six weeks to create a company with marketing, engineering, programming and branding concepts before conducting a “Shark Tank” style marketing presentation. Students are also required to build an exhibit booth to market their brand and product to the general public.
Finally, students must build a robot made from PVC pipe, aluminum sheets, plywood, motors, and other required material. Once the robot is built, the programming division must program the robot from scratch.
ATEMS students earned the following awards at the Big Country BEST contest to qualify for the Best of Texas competition:
- MVP – Angel Porter
- Website – 1st Place
- Engineering Notebook – 3rd Place
- Spirit and Sportsmanship – 1st Place
- Marketing Presentation – 1st place
- Exhibit and Interview Booth – 1st Place
- The BEST Award – 2nd Place
At the state competition on Dec. 7-8, students will demonstrate their marketing and exhibit skills on the campus of UT-Dallas, and the robotic competition will be at Dr Pepper Arena.
