Today the North Pacific Gyre is also home to what has been called the Great Pacific
Garbage Patch, a massive island of floating debris, mostly plastic, that the gyre
stirs like a giant pot of trashy soup. Though the rubber duckies have helped raise
awareness about the gyre, most of what makes up the garbage patch is hardly so cute.
Most of it consists of tiny plastic fragments and chemical sludge, but just about
anything discarded that floats can be found there.
Further, there is a growing concern that the coral reefs around the globe are in major
trouble and may be dying at a faster rate than predicted. The reefs are extremely
sensitive to climate change and are struggling. So-called 鈥渂leaching鈥�- a consequence
of warming water is a major concern. There may be hope in a new project that proposes
development of artificial reefs to lure fish and baby coral polyps to new locations.
Of particular interest is the use of 3D printers to construct these reefs.
Given this background, BEST Inc. is very concerned about the impact of this pollution
and climate change on our ocean and our planet. Further, this seems to be a problem
that could easily lend itself to potential solutions through robotic operations. We
see a need to evaluate the abilities of robots to work in the ocean environment, within
the gyres themselves, to evaluate the pollution, assess effective recovery techniques
and streamline the recycling process. Use of robots in the construction of artificial
reefs is another area of interest. The 2018 game, Current Events, addresses these
issues and will emphasize the multitude of ways engineers and scientists must work
together to tackle global problems.
Kickoff: September 8, 2018 WSU Hughes Metroplex
Practice Day: October 13, 2018 WSU Heskett Center
Game Day: October 20, 2018 WSU Charles Koch Arena
Andover Central High School - Andover, KS
Atchison High School - Atchison, KS
Augusta High School - Augusta, KS
Bishop Carroll High School - Wichita, KS
Bluestem High School - Leon, KS
Campus High School - Hayseville, KS
Canton-Galva High School - Canton, KS *
Circle High School - Towanda, KS
Council Grove High School - Council Grove, KS
Cunnigham High School - Cunningham, KS
El Dorado High School - El Dorado, KS
Garden City High School - Garden City, KS
Kansas City Christian School - Prairie Village, KS
Minneapolis JR/SR High School - Minneapolis, KS *
Philadelphia Christian Academy - Park City, KS
Pike Valley High School - Scandia, KS
Robinson Middle School - Wichita, KS
Rock Creek JR/SR High School - St. George, KS
Rose Hill High School - Rose Hill, KS
Salina South High School - Salina, KS
Solomon High School - Solomon, KS
Valley Center High School - Valley Center, KS
Washburn Rural High School - Topeka, KS
Wichita Collegiate School - Wichita, KS
Wichita High School East - Wichita, KS
Wichita Homeschool - Wichita, KS
Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School - Wichita, KS
Wichita Southeast High School - Wichita, KS
It was Kansas BEST Game Day at Charles Koch Arena on October 20, 2018 with 27 teams and over 525 students competing in the 19th annual Kansas BEST Competition.
These schools are being invited to represent Kansas BEST at the BEST Regional Competition in Ft. Smith Arkansas November 30th- December 1st, 2018
Wichita Homeschool
Philadelphia Christian Academy
Garden City High School
Kapaun Mt Carmel High School
Washburn Rural High School
Salina South High School
BEST Award
This is the most prestigious award presented each year. It is based on the overall
evaluation of each team's project engineering notebook, marketing presentation, team
exhibit and interview, spirit and sportsmanship, and robot performance.
1st Place BEST: Wichita Homeschool
2nd Place BEST: Garden City High School
3rd Place BEST: Philadelphia Christian Academy
Game Award
This award is presented to the team whose robot wins the game day competitions (places
in seeding rounds, and wins the elimination rounds).
1st Place: Wichita Homeschool
2nd Place: Washburn Rural High School
3rd Place: Salina South High School
4th Place: Valley Center High School
BEST Elements:
Notebook Award
1st Place: Wichita Homeschool
2nd Place: Council Grove High School
3rd Place: Valley Center High School
Presentation Award
1st Place: Garden City High School
2nd Place: Rock Creek High School
3rd Place: Wichita Homeschool
Exhibit Award
1st Place: Philadelphia Christian Academy
2nd Place: Wichita Homeschool
3rd Place: Rose Hill High School
Spirit and Sportsmanship Award
1st Place: Wichita Homeschool
2nd Place: Circle High School
3rd Place: Philadelphia Christian Academy
Kansas BEST also recognized teams with these awards:
WSU Sportsmanship (Voted on by teams)
Philadelphia Christian Academy
Most Robust Robot Design Award (Spirit AeroSystems)
This award is presented to the team whose robot demonstrates excellent reliability
and minimum maintenance during the contest.
Wichita Homeschool
Founders Award (Textron Aviation)
This award is presented to the team who demonstrates effective offensive and defensive
strategies and shows obvious use of the engineering design process.
Wichita Homeschool
Top Gun Award (Most Points Scored in the Preliminaries)
Wichita Homeschool
Best BEST T-Shirt Award
1st Place: Augusta High School
2nd Place: Council Grove High School
3rd Place: Pike Valley High School