BEST History at Auburn
In 2001, Auburn University’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and College of Sciences and Mathematics jointly created a local BEST hub, Alabama BEST, as an effort to 'grow' future engineers, scientists, and technical professionals to meet the future needs of business and industry in the state.

Clearly the most innovative K-12 outreach program of the two colleges, Alabama BEST made a tremendous impact in its first year as a BEST competition site. Twenty-two high schools from around the state competed in “RAD to the Core,” the 2001 BEST game.

The 2002 competition was even more outstanding. Fifty-four teams from Alabama and Georgia competed in “Warp X Blast from the Past.” Of the fifty-four teams, over forty were middle schools, which greatly changed the dynamics of the program. The program even outgrew its home base and had to be moved to Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum, home of NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball. Approximately 1500 people were in attendance that fall to welcome the program to its new “digs.”

In 2003, the two colleges petitioned BEST Robotics to become its second regional championship, South’s BEST, which would serve hubs east of the Mississippi River. Thirty-six teams advanced from local competitions at six hubs in seven states and competed in South's BEST 2003.

Because of the massive amount of time and effort required to host South’s BEST, the two colleges approached Huntingdon College in Montgomery about taking on Alabama BEST. Thus, the 2004 and 2005 competitions were held there with 20 teams participating each year.

In 2006, Alabama BEST returned to the Auburn campus and 17 teams from Central Alabama and the Birmingham area competed.

This fall, Alabama BEST will host 26 schools from Central Alabama, the Birmingham area, and Muskogee County, Georgia (which borders Lee County), particularly those along the I-85 corridor from Montgomery to the Georgia state line.

Industries in Central Alabama see BEST as an ideal program for developing a technologically literate workforce—people who understand technology and know how to use it to solve problems. This kind of workforce is essential for the many new, high-tech manufacturers that are and will be locating along I-85. BEST students meet that criteria because, in the process of building their robots, students learn to identify and analyze design problems, brainstorm solutions for them, and build and test their designs, all in a team-building setting. Those are the kinds of employees local industries need, and BEST delivers them.

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