Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 7, 2005

Contact: Contact: Mike Emery
713.743.8186 (office)
713.415.6551 (pager)
pemery@uh.edu

While college hoopsters are prepping for March Madness, a group of robots will gear up for a different kind of
b-ball tournament at the University of Houston.

Botball may sound like a futuristic sport, but it’s actually a friendly contest that introduces students to technology.

UH’s Center for Technology Literacy (CTL) will host the Texas Regional Botball Robotics Tournament at 8 a.m. Saturday, March 12, in the University Center’s Houston Room. The event is free and open to the public.

Student teams from Texas middle and high schools will construct robots from sensors, motors, software and LEGO® pieces. They will then program the robots to complete specific tasks on a 4 'x 8 ' board, where robots score points by placing Ping-Pong balls into scoring positions. Robots must be programmed and automated without the use of remote control devices.

The tournament is aligned with CTL’s mission of training and supporting Texas technology educators. CTL works in conjunction with Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a national non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the numbers of prospective engineers and engineering technologists graduating from high schools.

For more information about the Texas Regional Botball Robotics Tournament, contact Taresa Mikle at
713.743.1855 or tmmikle@central.uh.edu.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.