Sally Ride to Keynote Robotics Competition at Texas Tech

As part of the 2007 Texas BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) robotics competition, former NASA astronaut and first American woman in space, Sally Ride, will speak at 8 p.m. Friday (Nov. 30) at the City Bank Municipal Coliseum.

Admission is free and open to the public. Texas Tech University is hosting the middle school and high school robotics competitions, which will take place from 9 a.m. to noon and 1:30 – 5 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 1), also in the coliseum.

"Hosting the Texas BEST robotics competition is good for everyone involved," said Kambra Bolch, associate vice provost. "Texas Tech has the opportunity to show 2,000 high school and middle school students our world-class university. They not only experience a top-level robotics competition with peers from around Texas and New Mexico, they get a first-hand look at the university and the outstanding opportunities in the College of Engineering."

Ride was selected for the NASA program in 1978, as part of the first NASA class to accept women. She flew two shuttle missions in 1983 and 1984. Author of five books, she is a professor of physics at the University of California at San Diego, as well as president and CEO of Sally Ride Science, a company that creates entertaining science programs and publications for youth, with particular emphasis on involving girls in science.
Texas BEST is a regional organization associated with BEST Inc., a non-profit, volunteer-based organization with a mission to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology through participation in a science and engineering-based robotics competition. The Texas BEST robotics competition is the regional competition to which winning teams from local BEST robotics competitions in Texas and New Mexico advance.
The regional competition provides the opportunity for winning teams to compete with their robots and to enhance students’ acquisition of skills suited to math, science, engineering and technology careers, and to inspire and encourage students to pursue such careers.
In addition to the robotics competition and the poster and oral presentations, Texas Tech, as the university host site, will provide opportunities for students to interact with students, faculty and staff from the campus and to tour educational and research facilities to encourage awareness of and interest in university education related to math, science, engineering and technology careers.

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CONTACT: Kambra Bolch, associate vice provost, Texas Tech University,
(512) 966-0934, or kambra.bolch@ttu.edu