COSAM News Articles 2017 September State Representative Lovvorn supports COSAM’s BEST Robotics outreach program

State Representative Lovvorn supports COSAM’s BEST Robotics outreach program

Published: 09/22/2017

Joe Lovvorn presenting check to Mary Lou Ewald and Dean Nicholas Giordano

State representative Joe Lovvorn (right) stopped by the Sciences Center Classrooms Building to present a check to Dean Nicholas Giordano (left) and COSAM Director of Outreach Mary Lou Ewald (center) for BEST Robotics.

State representative Joe Lovvorn stopped by the Sciences Center Classrooms Building on campus to present a check to Dean Nicholas Giordano and COSAM Director of Outreach Mary Lou Ewald for BEST Robotics. Answering the nation’s need for more and better-prepared workers in scientific, industrial and technological fields, BEST, which stands for “Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology,” is a middle school and high school robotics program, now in its 25th year nationally and 17th year in Alabama. BEST Robotics is the only robotics program in the nation that is offered to schools at no cost. The not-for-profit, all-volunteer program challenges students to design, build and market a robot to use in a six-week-long series of competitions, culminating in the South’s BEST championship, which is hosted by Auburn University’s College of Sciences and Mathematics and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.

“Because BEST Robotics is a free program for schools to engage in, we rely heavily on support from individuals, industry sponsors, and other stakeholders to provide the resources needed for any school wishing to participate, regardless of their economic status,” said Ewald. “I am so grateful to Representative Lovvorn for his generous donation to the BEST program, which will help support an incredible educational experience for over 700 students from 23 middle and high schools in our area. Programs like BEST are key in our efforts to increase students’ technical proficiency and inspire the next generation of STEM professionals.”