Another evaluation session will follow in the spring. The students must have participated in a science fair in order to apply. Candidates are judged by their science projects, recommendations, brief essay, and extracurricular activities. They pair women who are studying engineering or science at one of the participating colleges or universities with professional scientists and engineers working in industry, and help them form e-mail based mentoring relationships. They also have on-line forums, many helpful links, etc.
Volunteers sign up via the web to become e-mail mentors for the school year.
Both competitions are based on a six-week design, construct, and compete cycle where technical professionals are teamed with high school students. The radio-controlled robots are constructed from a fixed set of parts provided to the teams. The BEST competition resembles a sporting event, complete with bands, cheerleaders, and screaming parents. Over this same period, BEST has expanded to over 16 hubs in 7 states - most hubs are Texas, but the hubs stretch east as far as Illinois and Kentucky. In addition to relying on the community for financial support, we rely on engineers and other technical professionals to volunteer their time to mentor the students.