Thursday, November 29, 2012

Fyffe and Marshall Tech Teams Prep for South's BEST

Winning teams from the Northeast Alabama BEST Robotics hub are making last minute preparations for South's BEST, to be held in Auburn December 1-2.

After winning first place in BEST Award and Robot Competition, Marshall Technical School will compete for the BEST Award at South's BEST. They have been busy making final adjustments to their robot as well as practicing their marketing presentation and honing robot driving skills.

Fyffe High School will compete in South's BEST for the first time. As second place BEST Award winner at Northeast Alabama BEST, Fyffe will compete in the BEST Award at South's BEST. They too are making last minute adjustments to their robot and are fine tuning their marketing presentation.

We wish both teams the BEST as they travel to Auburn this weekend for South's BEST!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

NACC Engineering Tech Students Design Robot

Engineering Technician students at Northeast Alabama Community College recently designed and built an autonomous, line-following garbage can delivery and retrieval robot. This project, part of the ENT 242 - Advanced Studies in Engineering Technology class, allows students to build projects that apply the knowledge and skills to practical situations in engineering technology. According to instructor, Deni Adkins, the design challenge came from a real-life situation wherein someone is no longer able to take their garbage can to the road. Students were challenged to design and build a prototype that would solve the challenge. The robot is programmed to follow a path (a black line) to from the starting point to the end point (at the road) and return to the starting point.

The instructor, Deni Adkins, provided the video.


The Engineering Technician program at NACC provides students to be the eyes, ears, hands and feet of engineers. It includes courses in electrical, programmable logic controls, mechanical, structural, materials, and project management, as well as quality and productivity. By understanding the language of engineering and various industrial systems, the engineering technician can assist engineers in designing, testing, building, operating and maintaining systems in aerospace, energy, manufacturing, construction, and consulting.

Engineering technicians rely on a strong background in math and science coupled with an understanding of engineering concepts to support the work of engineers. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, of the 77 fastest growing occupations requiring postsecondary training or an associate's degree, at least 10 are in an engineering technician field.

Are you interested in becoming an engineering technician? If so, contact Mrs. Deni Adkins at 256-228-6001, ext. 2816 or 256-638-4418, ext. 2816 or via email.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Northeast Alabama BEST in the News!

The Daily Sentinel, of Scottsboro, posted this article today regarding Northeast Alabama BEST Robotics.

TVA Contributes to BEST Robotics Program

We thank The Daily Sentinel for publishing this article!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

News Article About BEST and TVA Released

Northeast Alabama Community College recently released a news article about TVA's contribution to Northeast Alabama BEST. You may read it here and through local news outlets.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Winning Teams Featured in Local Papers

Both Northeast Alabama BEST teams advancing to South's BEST were featured in their respective local newspapers recently.

Fyffe High School's Robotics team was featured in The Times Journal on November 8.

Marshall Technical School's team was featured on the back page (the whole back page) of a recent edition of The Advertiser Gleam.

Unfortunately, The Advertiser Gleam does not have an online edition and The Times Journal site requires a subscription, so we are unable to provide links to these stories.

Congratulations to both teams for this positive publicity for their schools.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Seeking 2013 Sponsors

Northeast Alabama BEST Robotics is now seeking sponsors for 2013. With a year of experience under our belt, we hope to open the competition to more schools next year, add additional training opportunities, and provide additional opportunities for young people to become excited about science and math. But expanding the program requires additional funds and additional volunteers.

We will be posting new sponsorship information in the coming days. As always, let us know if a hub representative can visit to tell you more about BEST Robotics and the way it changes lives.

Monday, November 5, 2012

DeKalb County Technology Center Winning T Shirt Design

The DeKalb County Technology Center won the Berry and Dunn Office Equipment BEST T Shirt Design award.

The DCTC design features the WarpXX space elevator theme on the front and the BEST Inc. and sponsor logos on the back. 

Congratulations to all the teams who submitted T shirt designs. They were all excellent. Check out all the T Shirt designs by visiting our photo gallery.

2012 Game Day Photos Posted

Several photos from Game Day 2012 have been posted on the Photos page of this site. Some of the photos are featured in this Game Day slide show.


Does your team have photos to share? Send them to us and we will post them.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Photos from Warp XX 2012 Coming Soon

Keep a watch for all the photos from Warp XX 2012 Game Day coming soon. Here is a preview of some intense pit action from a Pisgah High School team member.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Interested in Participating in 2013? Let us know...


In its inaugural year, Northeast Alabama BEST prepared to accept 12 teams. Ten teams participated.

The leadership of Northeast Alabama BEST will soon make decisions regarding how many teams to accept for the 2013 BEST season. Since the hub purchases the kits and supplies (at a cost of approximately $1,200 per team), Northeast Alabama BEST officials need to plan and raise funds now for any new teams that will participate in 2013.


If you plan to participate in 2013, please contact Nicole Carroll to let her know of your interest. This will do two things. First, it will help the leadership team to plan for the 2013 season. Second, Nicole will add your contact information to our email list so that you will be kept informed of any upcoming workshops or training.

Want to know more about BEST? Schedule a time for BEST team members to visit your school or classroom to talk about BEST. 

Warp XX - 2012 was great, but we are looking forward to what 2013 brings!