Game Day November 1, 2025 Program
Kansas BEST is made possible by dedicated volunteers, loyal sponsors, the WSU College of Engineering and the Kansas BEST Steering Committee
- Terrance Williams, Director Recruitment and Outreach, WSU College of Engineering
- Andy McFayden, Executive Director, Marketing and Community Engagement, WSU Tech
for their full support of Kansas BEST.
Additional volunteers for their invaluable contributions
Times are approximate
7:00 a.m. Team Registration, Check-In, Team Photos
8:45 a.m. Pit Meeting
9:00 a.m. Opening Ceremony
9:30 a.m. Seeding Competition (5 matches, randomly-selected opponents)
2:00 p.m. Wildcard Match
2:30 p.m. Top 8 teams play 3 Semi-final matches each
3:00 p.m. Top 4 teams play 3 Final matches each
3:30 p.m. Awards Ceremony
4:00 p.m. Conclusion of Game Day Activities
Kansas BEST gratefully acknowledges the generous sponsorship of these organizations:
FOUNDING PARTNER
Texas Instruments
LOCAL PARTNERS
Wichita State University College of Engineering
WSU Tech
National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR)
NATIONAL SPONSORS
MathWorks
PRUSA Research
Tennesee Valley Robotics | igus
Dassault Systems Solidworks
KANSAS BEST LOCAL SPONSORS
Engineers Foundation of Kansas (ELK)
Kansas Society of Professional Engineers (KSPE)
KANSAS BEST FRIENDS
W. Frank Barton School of Business
WSU Project Innovation Hub
The BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and TechnologyTM) mission is to engage and excite students about engineering, science, and technology as well as inspire them to pursue careers in these field. BEST is designed to encourage youth through participation in a sports-like contest, in which middle and high school students design and build a remote-controlled robot. Industry and education professionals volunteer as team mentors, providing professional expertise in the design and construction processes of the competition.
BEST students learn to analyze and solve problems using the Engineering Design Process, which helps students develop technological literacy skills—skills that industry seeks in its workforce. To simulate a “real world” business and engineering environment, some competition restrictions include:
• Short development time (eight weeks)
• Limited components (identical materials provided)
• Specific design requirements (size, weight, etc.)
BEST program goals are accomplished through participation in local “hub” competitions, of which Kansas BEST is one. Other hubs are located in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas. There are three regional championships in December, in which the top teams from each hub compete: Texas BEST Championship hosted by University of Texas at Dallas; South’s BEST Championship hosted by Auburn University; and Denver BEST hosted by Rocky Mtn BEST. Kansas BEST will send the top 4 teams to the Denver BEST Championship. These teams will receive stipends to attend the competition.
The BEST program receives vital support from school administrators and local businesses. Financial support is received from both individuals and industry.
For more information, visit these BEST websites:
Kansas: kansasbest.org | BEST Robotics, Inc.: www.bestinc.org
Facebook: fb.com/Kansas BEST Robotics
Today, much of the world's food industry depends on advanced technologies. Automation in agriculture, home deliveries, and cooking tasks in the kitchen are changing how our food is grown and distributed. BEST Robotics is eager to get involved in this exciting endeavor by opening the Byte to Bite Restaurant. This restaurant is focused on bringing the food of the future to the diners of today. BEST Robotics is looking to its many teams to develop robots that run the restaurant from farm to table. Teams will compete to see which solution is the BEST.
Teams will build robots which will tend a garden, harvest ingredients, build meals,
and deliver those meals to different areas in our new restaurant.
The robot’s job is to perform these tasks to deliver a positive experience for the
Byte-to-Bite Restaurant.
Objectives
A new up and coming restaurant is hoping to hire your business (team) to design and build a robot capable of achieving exceptional service in the restaurant by performing the following tasks:
- Gathering ingredients and building one of the BEST meals
- Safely transporting the meals to one of the four meal scoring areas
- Spin the water valve to irrigate your Garden
- Twist a handle to deploy the crop-tending drone
- Autonomously deliver completed meals to the Dining Room
Bold names are teams that are competing for the BEST Award, * Indicates teams participating for the first time, or returning after a long hiatus.
351 - Wichita Collegiate HS
352 - Moundridge
353 - USD 214 Ulysses *
354 - Council Grove High School
355 - Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School
358 - Wichita Homeschool
359 - Republic County High School
365 - Quark Robotics - Rose Hill
366 - Central Christian Academy
367 - McHomes Homeschool Co-op
368 - USD 300 - South Central High School
370 - Garden City High School
371 - Circle High School *
372 - Rock Creek High School
373 - Solomon High School *
374 - West Franklin High School *
377 - Campus High School *
378 - Valley Center High School
383 - Lakewood Middle School *
384 - Berean Academy
385 - Derby High School *
386 - Sunrise Christian Academy *
Masters of Ceremony: Ruby Forrester
Staging: Kathy Rogers, Ron Morgan, Paul Cook
Compliance: John Matthew, Wyatt Smrcka, Ethan Lif
Floor Boss (Rules): John Matthew
Pit Boss: Bryan Jaax
Referees: Scott Ricke (Head Referee), Misti Burch, Talon Sullivan, Brandon McIntosh, Nicholas Burgeson, Amber Whittaker, Bryan Edwards, Stan Clements, Tom Cornwell
Scoring: David Alexander
Head Judge: Kirsten Jensen
Any high school team competing in the Kansas BEST Game competition is eligible for the BEST Award, which goes to the team that best embodies the concept of Boosting Engineering, Science, and TechnologyTM. In addition to the design, building and testing of the team’s robot, this competition emphasizes the teamwork, sportsmanship, diversity, and school/community support necessary for success.
Materials must be the work of the students. Involvement of student journalists, photographers, artists, musicians (serving in auxiliary roles in support of their school’s BEST team) is encouraged. Teams are evaluated in four categories:
- Project Summary Notebook, the documentation of the project including photographs, drawings, etc. must be submitted on Practice Day.
- Marketing Presentation given by each team within a 25-minute time frame to a panel of judges.
- Poster Exhibits & Interviews
- Promotional Digital Video
Robot Performance based on total team points earned during the seeding competition.
Project Summary Notebook
Lori Jenkins, John Huffman, Carla Aldridge, Crystal Morgan, Kathleen Barth, John Matthew, Clint Schneider, Yuriy Drubinskiy, Victor Salazar, Don Brushwood, Jacob White, Nicholas Burgeson, Wyatt Smrcka, Linda Manfull
Marketing Oral Presentation
Frank Barton School of Business - Alexander Ziegler, Charles Martin, Lynn Matthews
Poster Exhibit and Interviews
Alexander Ziegler, Ethan Lif, Wyatt Smrcka
Most Robust Machine Award
Bryan Jaax
download link (coming soon)
| 1 | Circle High School | West Franklin HS | Lakewood Middle School | Central Christian Academy |
| 2 | Derby HS | Garden City HS | Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic HS | Wichita Homeschool |
| 3 | Campus HS | McHomes Homeschool Co-op | Quark Robotics - Rose Hill | |
| 4 | USD 214 Ulysses | Rock Creek HS | Sunrise Christian Academy | Berean Academy |
| 5 | Republic County HS | Valley Center HS | ||
| 6 | Solomon HS | Wichita Collegiate HS | USD 300 - South Central HS | Council Grove HS |
| 7 | McHomes Homeschool Co-op | Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic HS | Berean Academy | Circle High School |
| 8 | Rock Creek HS | Campus HS | Derby HS | |
| 9 | Solomon HS | Sunrise Christian Academy | West Franklin HS | Garden City HS |
| 10 | Quark Robotics - Rose Hill | Lakewood Middle School | Valley Center HS | USD 300 - South Central HS |
| 11 | Republic County HS | Wichita Homeschool | Council Grove HS | USD 214 Ulysses |
| 12 | Wichita Collegiate HS | Central Christian Academy |
| 13 | Derby HS | Berean Academy | Quark Robotics - Rose Hill | Solomon HS |
| 14 | Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic HS | Sunrise Christian Academy | Valley Center HS | Campus HS |
| 15 | Lakewood Middle School | USD 214 Ulysses | ||
| 16 | Central Christian Academy | Council Grove HS | USD 300 - South Central HS | Rock Creek HS |
| 17 | Garden City HS | Republic County HS | McHomes Homeschool Co-op | Wichita Collegiate HS |
| 18 | West Franklin HS | Wichita Homeschool | Circle High School |
| 19 | Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic HS | USD 214 Ulysses | Solomon HS | |
| 20 | Central Christian Academy | McHomes Homeschool Co-op | Derby HS | Valley Center HS |
| 21 | Council Grove HS | Lakewood Middle School | Garden City HS | Campus HS |
| 22 | USD 300 - South Central HS | Republic County HS | Circle High School | Sunrise Christian Academy |
| 23 | Quark Robotics - Rose Hill | Wichita Collegiate HS | Rock Creek HS | Wichita Homeschool |
| 24 | West Franklin HS | Berean Academy |
| 25 | Wichita Homeschool | Solomon HS | ||
| 26 | Valley Center HS | Circle High School | Rock Creek HS | Garden City HS |
| 27 | USD 300 - South Central HS | Quark Robotics - Rose Hill | USD 214 Ulysses | Derby HS |
| 28 | Sunrise Christian Academy | Wichita Collegiate HS | Lakewood Middle School | |
| 29 | Berean Academy | Central Christian Academy | Campus HS | Republic County HS |
| 30 | McHomes Homeschool Co-op | Council Grove HS | West Franklin HS | Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic HS |
