NDSU is scheduled to host the first Northern Plains BEST Robotics regional competition on Saturday, Dec. 10, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Bentson-Bunker Fieldhouse at NDSU. BEST stands for “Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology.”

Sixteen teams from Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota schools will demonstrate how well their remote-controlled robots perform. The teams also will be judged on team exhibits, marketing presentations, engineering notebooks, spirit and sportsmanship.

The robots were designed and built through BEST Robotics, a program to encourage students to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology through a science and engineering-based robotics competition.

The 2011 program kicked off in September when 40 middle school and high school teams from three local hubs each received a kit of equipment and parts and a set of game rules. The teams were from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Canada.

Five weeks later, the teams tested their robots. Six weeks later, they participated in the robotics competition at their hub. Teams that advanced to the Northern Plains BEST regional competition either had the top-performing robot or won the BEST Award, which is based on a project engineering notebook, marketing presentation, team exhibit and interview, spirit and sportsmanship, and robot performance.

The three local hubs are Bison BEST at NDSU, which has been in existence for five years, and two new hubs, Wildcat BEST at the North Dakota State College of Science, Wahpeton, and Blue Hawk BEST at Dickinson State University. The addition of Wildcat BEST and Blue Hawk BEST made it possible to offer the regional competition at NDSU for the first time.

Students participating in the competition will be on the NDSU campus Dec. 8-10. In addition to competition activities, they will tour the campus, meet with other BEST teams at a social and pizza party, and attend a Fargo Force hockey game.