April 13, 2007

UWF ANNOUNCES "BEST" ROBOTICS HUB DESIGNATION, GIFT COMMITMENT

PENSACOLA - The University of West Florida announced its designation as the Emerald Coast Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology (BEST) hub April 13. Gulf Power Chief Information Officer and UWF Board of Trustee JT Young presented UWF President John Cavanaugh with a $15,000 gift commitment to support the program. Best Robotics, Inc. is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization with a mission to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology through participation in a sports-like science and engineering-based robotics competition each fall.

"UWF is very excited to become involved in a program that will bring a high-energy, engaging experience to the students in Florida's panhandle," said Cavanaugh. "A competition event at UWF will boost student interest in the engineering, science, math, and technology fields of study and will help these students to prepare for entry into Florida's high-growth, technology-oriented workforce."

Emerald Coast BEST will hold its first annual competition at the UWF Field House Oct. 27. Teams from middle and high schools across the region will have six weeks to design and build a remote-controlled robot to solve a problem or perform a specific function. Teams are judged on robot performance, oral presentation, table display, project notebook, spirit and sportsmanship. Students build their robots from a materials kit provided by the hub, and no fees are paid by students or schools participating in BEST robotics. Hub operations are funded entirely by corporate and individual sponsorships, and additional donors to the competition will be needed to support up to twenty schools.

"We are thrilled that the University of West Florida will serve as the first BEST hub site in Florida and in doing so, will provide an amazing opportunity for Northwest Florida students to engage in a fun way in the disciplines of math, science, engineering and technology," said Young. "As a business community, we all can rally around efforts like this that help prepare students in our region for our highly skilled and technological careers right here at home."

Middle and high schools interested in forming a team should contact Bill Weber, UWF instructor and academic advisor and Emerald Coast BEST hub director, at (850) 474-3407. For more information, contact Gretchen Van Valkenburg, UWF Division of Development, at (850) 474-2875 or e-mail gvalkenb@uwf.edu.