George Blanks, the executive director of BEST Robotics Inc. and an IEEE member, spoke about the BEST Robotics competition, which he called a fun way to get students involved in science and engineering. During the competition, middle- and high-school students are asked to go from design to market on a robot in just six weeks.
“We went from this being recognized as a robotics competition 11 years ago when we started to being a K-12 workforce development program,” said Blanks. “The program creates an educational partnership between industry, K-12 and higher education.”
Blanks asked the audience to picture a local middle school, and then explained that these students are the future of the engineering workforce. In five years, these students could be joining the workforce.
“What extraordinary measures are you taking to get them ready to become engineers? Are you doing anything in your local school system?” Blanks asked the audience. “I hope your involvement goes beyond career day…because we have to get kids engaged in engineering that shows them it’s fun, possible, and doable if they have the right science and math background early enough.”
Blanks urged colleges, universities, and IEEE sections and chapters to become a hub for local BEST Robotics teams. BEST is free to schools -- equipment and materials are provided -- and all schools regardless of their type -- public, private or home schools -- or location are eligible to participate.
Read an article about the BEST competition recently published in IEEE-USA Today’s Engineer: http://www.todaysengineer.org/2009/Nov/BEST.asp
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