Robotics competition receives corporate support
Martin "Marty" Small, CEO/CTO and president of Las Cruces-based CALCLUEX, Inc., has given a $10,000 gift in support of NM BEST Robotics. Small has supported the program since it was launched in New Mexico in 2001.
Jacobs Technology, Inc. and Jacobs Engineering together have made a $6,000 gift to support the program. Jacobs Vice President and General Manager Keith Beck presented the gift to College of Engineering Dean Ricardo B. Jacquez. It is the fifth year that Jacobs has supported the program.
The Boeing Corp. has committed to providing $5,000 in support to BEST for the second year in a row.
BEST, which stands for Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology, is a nationwide, annual competition that offers middle and high school students an opportunity to work in a situation where they are confronted with the same problems, challenges and breakthroughs that an engineering team encounters. The BEST mission is to inspire participating students to pursue careers in engineering, science, technology and math.
NMSU has been host (or hub) to the local competition for 11 years.
"Programs like BEST really do make a difference in feeding the pipeline of students into engineering at the college level. We are very grateful to Marty Small, Jacobs and Boeing for this support," said Jacquez.
Last year, more than 400 students representing teams from New Mexico and El Paso competed against each other. This year's competition, which will have a space theme, will begin with Practice Day on Oct. 13. The official competition will be held October 20 at the NMSU James B. Delamater Activity Center. Schools will compete with each other on the game field. Schools will also be judged on presentations, notebooks, sportsmanship and spirit.
For more information about BEST, contact Program Coordinator Tracey O'Neil at traceyo@nmsu.edu or 575-646-7852, or visit http://engr.nmsu.edu/best/index.shtml.
