From BGSU OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Teams of students from 17 area high schools and middle schools will showcase their talents during the fourth annual Falcon BEST Robotics competition Oct. 8 at Bowling Green State University.
Area schools with teams competing this year are: Anthony Wayne High School, Bowling Green High School, Cardinal Stritch Catholic High School, EHOVE Career Center, Hamilton Southeastern High School, Maumee Valley Country Day School, McComb High School, Millstream Career Center, Patrick Henry High School, Paulding High School, Perrysburg High School, Port Clinton High School, Sandusky Central Catholic School, St. Francis de Sales School, St. Ursula Academy, Sylvania Southview High School, and Vanguard Technology Center.
Game Day kicks off in the Stroh Center at 9:30 a.m. with opening ceremonies, which will include a welcome and parade of robots. The competition will follow at 10 a.m. as the teams and their robots master Bet the Farm 2016, a competition of skill and strategy. The event will conclude with awards at approximately 3:15 p.m.
The public is encouraged to attend Game Day to support the teams and their robots as they compete; all events are free.
Students are coached by dedicated and enthusiastic teachers and team mentors, some of which come from the professional tech community. Each team is provided with an identical kit of parts and equipment, and then spends a month and a half designing, building and testing a remote-controlled robot that the team expects to outperform those created by its competition.
The BEST Award is presented to the top three teams that exemplify the concept of BEST – Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology. Criteria include creativity, teamwork, sportsmanship, diversity of participation, application of the engineering design process, ethics, positive attitude/enthusiasm and school/community involvement. Awards are also presented to the top three robotics game teams, and to the top teams that compete in oral presentations, educational displays, project engineering notebook and spirit/sportsmanship. New award categories for this year include Most Photogenic Machine, Best Web Page Design, Best CAD Design, Best Team Video and Top Gun (most points scored in a single round).
Falcon BEST is hosted by BGSU’s College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering and the Northwest Ohio Center for Excellence in STEM Educational. Sponsors include BGSU and BGSU’s College of Business. Corporate sponsor Lathrop, who has been involved since the first robotics competition, has been joined by First Solar this year. Both companies have committed to supporting the student competition each year. Support from sponsors ensures students the continued opportunity for early involvement in their field of interest, while preparing them to become the industry’s future leaders.
