NDSU’s College of Engineering and Architecture's Bison BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) Robotics Competition will conclude on Oct. 23-24 at the Fargo Civic Auditorium. This is the third year that NDSU has hosted the six-week competition.

The competition offers hands-on, real world, engineering-based experience to middle and high school students. The mission of BEST robotics is to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science, technology and math through participation in a sports-like science and engineering-based robotics competition.

A total of 28 schools competed this year. At the kick-off event, each school received an identical kit of equipment and parts and a set of game rules. Each team designed, built and tested a radio-controlled robot, trying to outperform other robots.

There are two parallel competitions. The first competition is a robotics game, which is based on an annual theme with four teams competing at once in a series of three-minute matches. The other competition is for the BEST Award, which is presented to the team that best embodies the concept of “Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology.” Elements include a project engineering notebook, oral presentation, table display, and spirit and sportsmanship.

Engineers and other technical professionals from local industries served as team mentors who advised and guided students through the design and construction of their robot.

For more information about the competition, contact Nancy Rossland at 1-7994 or nancy.rossland@ndsu.edu. More information also is available at www.bestinc.org and www.ndsu.edu/ndsu/cea/bison_best_new.