1. Teacher/Mentor Institute  Welcome  Introductions  Administrative  Lunch  Bathrooms

2. Teacher/Mentor Institute August 6-7, 2012 José M. López RM BEST Executive Director What is BEST?

3. Page 3August 6-7, 2012 Critical Issues Facing Industry  Reduced student interest in STEM  85% of the engineering workforce eligible for retirement  Rapid growth in S&E jobs (3x that of all jobs)  Alarmingly small pool of qualified future employees.

4. Page 4 August 6-7, 2012 A Problem of Perception  In the U.S., math, science and engineering is often seen as being for ‘geeks and nerds.’   We must to start pulling, not pushing kids into the sciences.

5. Page 5 August 6-7, 2012 The Skill Set Technological literacy in the 21 st Century is to reading and writing in the 20th.

6. Page 6 August 6-7, 2012 Boosting Engineering Science & Technology (BEST) Our mission is to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science, and technology through participation in a sports-like, hands-on, real-world, engineering-based robotics competition.

7. Page 7 August 6-7, 2012 Boosting Engineering Science & Technology (BEST)  501(c)3 organization  Volunteer based (3500+)  Over 750 schools and about 12,000 students participating each fall

8. Page 8 August 6-7, 2012 BEST Fundamentals  Any middle or high school may participate for free —there is no entry fee.  Any student may participate.  All equipment and materials are provided at no cost.  Students perform all work.  Mentors guide students through the design & construction phase. Ted Mahler co- founder

9. Page 9 August 6-7, 2012 BEST Robotics, Inc. (BRI)  Headquartered in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University  In 18 years (1993-2011) 52 licensed “hubs” (competition sites) in 18 states (May 2012)  Rocky Mountain BEST was the 41 st hub (March 2010). Orange stars are Regions

10. Page 10 August 6-7, 2012 Game Day! BEST BEST is like a basketball game, chess match, and science fair all rolled into one day, all rolled into one day, with cheerleaders, mascots, pep bands, and wildly cheering adults and kids mixed in.

11. Page 11 August 6-7, 2012 BEST is …  BEST is not just about robotics.  It’s about teaching students to think, analyze problems, and solve them.  These are the students we need in our engineering programs and workforce!

12. Page 12 August 6-7, 2012 TMI Files  All of the documents presented and discussed at TMI are available at our web site. (http://www.rockymountainbest.org/)http://www.rockymountainbest.org/