Competition at UNT to rival TV's popular robot wars

Television shows featuring radio-controlled robots competing against each other fade in comparison to an upcoming sports-technology event sponsored by UNT in which high school students will construct machines that will accomplish defined tasks in a competitive arena.

From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 25, UNT will join with Labinal Inc., the Boeing Co. and other Denton County businesses to conduct the sports-technology competition DC BEST — Denton County Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology. The game, which is free and open to the public, will take place at the UNT Coliseum.

“This event is an opportunity for the community to take part in educating a viable work force and having fun in the process,” says Bill Grubbs, professor of engineering technology and department chair. “In addition to community and industry participation and support, the UNT College of Engineering faculty and students are participating as coaches, judges and facilitators. It is a great opportunity for our engineering college to interact with high school students on a one-on-one basis to better communicate what engineers, computer scientists and engineering technology graduates can expect upon graduation.”

There are two ways teams participating in DC BEST can qualify for regional competition, which will be held at Texas A&M University next year. They can either win the DC BEST award — presented to teams that best exemplify taking a project from idea to design to promotion — or win the game when their robot is the first to accomplish the required tasks.

BY CATHY CASHIO ccashio@unt.edu

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• UNT historian says familiar Halloween icon came from history's witch hunts
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