Students Shine at Third Annual Bell Vertical Robotics Competition

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Committed to furthering STEM education in schools, Bell launched its third annual Bell Vertical Robotics Competition this past weekend. The 2019 competition theme was On-Demand Mobility which simulated air-taxi movement of people and rapid-delivery of product orders. 17 high school teams from all over the Dallas/Fort Worth, TX area and Virginia were provided a drone kit to assemble and modify to accomplish several unique missions for the competition. The teams were given eight weeks to design, build and integrate their robotic solutions to achieve the On-Demand Mobility challenge with the guidance from Bell Engineering mentors.

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The schools involved included: Buinger CTE Academy, Polytechnic High School, Young Women’s Leadership Academy, Richland High School, Young Men’s Leadership Academy, Southwest High School, Little Elm High School, Dubiski Career High School, Cleburne High School, I.M. Terrell Academy for STEM and VPA, Grapevine High School, B.R. Johnson Career and Tech Center, Keller Center for Advanced Learning, Azle High School, Gilbreath Reed Career and Technical Center, Paschal High School and Blacksburg High School.

On competition day, the teams competed head-to-head to put their design solutions to the test. In addition, teams were required to use their critical thinking skills as they executed a product order rapid-delivery mission and completed other problem-solving challenges during the competition.

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First place went to Blacksburg High School, second place was awarded to Gilbreath Reed Career and Technical Center and Richland High School received third place.

Four additional teams received special Judge’s Awards. These included:

·      Best Overall Design: Azle High School

·      Exemplary Team: Keller Center for Advanced Learning

·      Presentation and Engineering Notebook: Young Women’s Leadership Academy

·      Judge’s Choice: Paschal High School

In addition to the high school competition, middle school teams participated in the Synchronized Dancing Drones Challenge where the top four winning teams performed their Dancing Drone Show at halftime.

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Congratulations to all the competition participants.

Bell and its education committee started this competition to continue inspiring today’s youth with a passion for STEM.

About Bell

Thinking above and beyond is what we do. For more than 85 years, we’ve been reimagining the experience of flight – and where it can take us.

We are pioneers. We were the first to break the sound barrier and to certify a commercial helicopter. We were a part of NASA’s first lunar mission and brought advanced tiltrotor systems to market. Today, we’re defining the future of advanced air mobility.

Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas – as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Textron Inc., – we have strategic locations around the globe. And with nearly one quarter of our workforce having served, helping our military achieve their missions is a passion of ours.

Above all, our breakthrough innovations deliver exceptional experiences to our customers. Efficiently. Reliably. And always, with safety at the forefront.

About Textron

Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Pipistrel, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Arctic Cat, and Textron Systems. For more information, visit: www.textron.com.

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements which may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, changes in aircraft delivery schedules or cancellations or deferrals of orders; our ability to keep pace with our competitors in the introduction of new products and upgrades with features and technologies desired by our customers; changes in government regulations or policies on the export and import of our products; volatility in the global economy or changes in worldwide political conditions that adversely impact demand for our products; volatility in interest rates or foreign exchange rates; and risks related to our international business, including establishing and maintaining facilities in locations around the world and relying on joint venture partners, subcontractors, suppliers, representatives, consultants and other business partners in connection with international business, including in emerging market countries.

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