This article describes BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology), a hands-on robotics program founded by Texas Instruments engineers Ted Mahler and Steve Marum. BEST links educators with industry to provide middle and high school students with a peek into the exciting world of robotics, with the goal of inspiring and interesting students in engineering, math, and science careers. Its formal mission statement reads: "BEST is designed to inspire and interest students in engineering, science, and technology through participation in an exciting sport-like technology contest." In 2003, 6,000 students from more than 600 high and middle schools competed at 21 BEST sites in 10 states. Competing students have six weeks to design and build a remote-controlled robot from a standardized sponsor-provided parts kit. Stanhope Elmore High School teacher Jennifer Cox believes that one of the reasons the competition succeeds is because it is set up to mirror a real-world engineering production project, complete with limited resources, a tight deadline, and exacting specifications that include size and weight limits.