BEAST members gathered for our team photo in early February. It has been a very busy six weeks since Kick-off!

We’ve finished the initial build of our robot’s mechanisms, and we are now working on programming and optimization. All subteams have been tirelessly contributing to the success of the team!

The Business Team wrote, edited, and refined their Impact Essay and Executive Summary. They also created our annual Impact Video, complete with numerous photos from the previous year. All three of these items were submitted for award consideration days before the deadline. That was a good thing, because there was a snowstorm the day before it was due! Now, their focus has shifted to the Impact Presentation, which will be presented to judges at our Regional competitions.

The team participated in the Sussex Scrimmage on Sunday, February 16, 2025. Our team made critical contributions to the event, as we hosted two of the three informational seminars. Our Business Team delivered a talk, complete with interactive discussion, relating to winning the Impact Award.

Captain Noah gave an illuminating presentation about the Dean’s List Award at the scrimmage. As a 2024 World Champion Dean’s List Award winner, he was eager to share his knowledge with this year’s crop of nominees.

During the scrimmage, the Drive Team had the opportunity to get the feel for this year’s Reefscape field and practice driving their plays with five other robots in action. The Software Team was able to test autonomous paths and driving modes; meanwhile, the Strategy Team piloted their new app for gathering robot data.

The Woodie Flowers Award

The Woodie Flowers Award recognizes an individual mentor who has done an outstanding job of motivating students through communication and celebrates effective communication in the art and science of engineering and design. This year, BEAST students chose Mentor Dean Spears as their Woodie Flowers Award nominee! Mentor Dean’s background is in electrical engineering, and he leads our Electrical Team. He believes that hands-on experience is the best teacher, and he has spent countless hours over the past five years answering questions, troubleshooting problems, and guiding students. Mentor Dean is also an integral part of BEAST’s outreach events. Anytime there is a robot demonstration, he can be found packing the trailer and driving the team’s van. He consistently travels early to competitions with the Drive Team, ensuring a smooth load-in and load-out. Mentor Dean is critical to our team’s success and so very worthy of this award!