History
BEST Robotics was started in 1993 by Texas Instruments engineers, Ted Mahler and Steve Marum in North Texas.
In 2010, Rocky Mountain BEST was formed and hosted their first competition in Denver. Over the last few years Colorado has seen a lot of growth, expanding from 1 hub to 5 hubs. Pikes Peak BEST is the newest hub and serves the greater Colorado Springs area including El Paso, Fremont, Pueblo, and Teller counties.
In 2017, Colorado will host its first championship event, the BEST Robotics Denver Regional Championship, drawing the best teams from across the state to compete in a top level championship. Prior to the Denver Regional being created, teams in Colorado would have to travel to Ft. Smith, Arkansas for the championship event. This was a financial hardship for many schools, so not everyone who qualified to move on was able to make the trip. We hope that by hosting a championship event in Denver, any Colorado schools that advance on can make the trip and compete.
Our Mission
To engage, excite, and inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology through participation in a sports-like science and engineering-based robotics competition.
Our Core Values
- Students are the sole designers and builders
- Coaches are there to mentor, not build the robot
- The program is free to schools
- All materials are provided to teams at no cost
Our Objectives
- Prepare students to be technologically literate and thus better prepared to enter the workforce
- Help students develop leadership, project management, teamwork and organizational skills
- Develop students’ confidence and competence through self-directed learning, decision-making, abstract thinking and problem-solving