It was a battle of brains and bots during the North Houston BEST Robotics competition, and it all played out on the Lone Star College-Kingwood campus.
Around 450 students from more than 20 different middle and high schools converged on the campus to compete on Saturday, October 28th.
The students are on an academic STEM path and showed off their robotics building skills in the “Incision Decision” Competition.
LSC-Kingwood Engineering Professor Dr. Jamie Turner was one of the judges.
“The competing teams have only had 8 weeks to design, build, and test their robots, which will navigate a biomedical engineering themed course constructed on the gym floor,” she explained. “We hope it will inspire students to dream big, imagine the technological advances they can help develop, and pursue STEM fields of study.”
Teams were challenged to design a functioning robot that can aid surgeons to accomplish several surgeries in a short amount of time. The course was set up like a human body. Some of the tasks included removing faulty heart valves, installing pacemaker electrodes, and performing a coronary bypass procedure.
The event was held in the Fitness Training Center on the campus. The stands were packed with supporters there to cheer on the students.
LSC-Kingwood Interim Vice President of Student Success, Ernesto Valenzuela, gave welcoming remarks.
“Hosting the robotics competition at LSC-Kingwood provides an excellent chance to connect with our community and students,” he said. “It offers a fantastic opportunity to encourage students to create robots capable of conducting surgical procedures.
The LSC-Kingwood mascot Cody the Coyote was also there to cheer on the teams.
As for the winners, Westbrook Intermediate School took the top prize – the BEST Award 1st Place.
Congratulations to Porter High School and Humble High School, who will be advancing to Regionals.
BEST – or “Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology” – is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization whose mission is to engage and excite students about science and technology.
For pictures of the event, click here.
For more information on the Incision Decision competition, visit: https://www.bestrobotics.org/site/.
Lone Star College enrolls over 80,000 students each semester providing high-quality, low-cost academic transfer and career training education. LSC is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to support student success. Mario K. Castillo, J.D. serves as Chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area. LSC has been named a 2023 Great Colleges to Work For® institution by the Chronicle of Higher Education and recognized by Fortune Magazine and Great Place To Work® as one of this year’s Best Workplaces in Texas™. LSC consists of eight colleges, seven centers, eight Workforce Centers of Excellence and Lone Star Corporate College. To learn more, visit.
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