BLAZER BEST COMPETITION SEEKS VOLUNTEERS

HIGH OCTANE: UAB ENGINEERING SCHOOL’S

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Engineering is seeking volunteers for a range of tasks for its second annual Blazer BEST robotics competition set for 8 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, in Bartow Arena. The 2009 High Octane contest will pit middle- and high-school student teams from Central Alabama and their built-from-scratch robots against one another in a one-day competition.

Blazer BEST, the local contest hosted at UAB in conjunction with the national BEST Robotics competition, is a non-profit endeavor, providing free materials for teams to develop and build competition robots in the six weeks preceding the contest. Paul George, the UAB event’s coordinator and development director for the School of Engineering, said the competition contains costs by leaning heavily on the time, treasure and talent of volunteers serving in a range of capacities:

MENTORS: Adult mentors from the Central Alabama engineering community are needed to serve as adjunct educators and advisors to guide student teams through the design and construction of their Blazer BEST robots during the design and assembly sessions. The six-week commitment begins with Blazer BEST Kick Off Day on Sept. 3 and ends with Game Day on Oct. 17, George said.

JUDGES: Judges are needed for the Oct. 17 Game Day event. Judges will select the event winners, score their performance on the robotics competition course and grade the hypothetical business plans and marketing strategies the teams developed to bring their products to market, George said.

SPONSORS: Blazer BEST relies on financial support of generous benefactors. Gifts in any amount help provide the free BEST experience to students from more than 25 participating schools, George said. George said interested volunteers and sponsors should contact Lyn Lewis at 205-975-2425 or llewis at uab dot edu. Volunteer registration is open until Oct. 10.

About UAB
The UAB School of Engineering offers students real-world experience while they train in one of its degree programs, which include the only undergraduate biomedical engineering program in Alabama. Students experience cutting-edge research opportunities, industry co-ops and unique internships generated by the school’s commitment to interdisciplinary learning.

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If you would like to be a judge, please contact Thomas Saunders, tbsaunders at gmail dot com

Click on the link below for the judges form
http://sections.asme.org/birmingham/Judges_Form_2009.doc

Michelin Tire Retread Plant

Please join us for a tour of the Birmingham Michelin Tire Re-tread Plant on Wednesday, September 23rd. We only have twenty slots available and they are going fast. Please sign up soon to get your name on the list. The drop-dead day for signing up is COB Friday, September 18th.

For contact information, please visit our website: http://sections.asme.org/birmingham/

To sign-up:
1. Email Bryan Coley: ColeyB2 at asme dot org
2. @ reply to our twitter account: Bham_ASME
3. Send us a Facebook Message

Further details will be sent to the tour participants.

See you there!