STEM is a term that’s becoming more and more prevalent. It stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and has received increased focus in the past few years, specifically in the realm of education. Nissan is a company always looking to the future, and the future of the automobile industry will be crafted by students with a strong basis in STEM education. That’s why the company was proud to serve as a sponsor of the BEST Robotics Competition held last month at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. The contest pushes middle and high school students to build problem solving, teamwork, and leadership skills through math and science.
BEST got its start in 1993 during Engineering Day at Texas Instruments (TI). Two engineers were serving as guides for a group of high school students, and together, they watched a video of a freshmen class at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) building a robot. The high school students were captivated, which got the two engineers thinking. From there, BEST was born.
Shawn Williams, the Plant Manager of Car Production at Nissan in Nashville, spoke about the importance of the program, saying “If you look across the street from the NISSAN plant in Smyrna, you'll see a $35,000,000 facility where Nissan has partnered with the state of Tennessee to basically bring STEM jobs into the state to train people on things like robotics and mechatronics. We need those jobs. We need them now and we need them in the future."
Indeed, it’s these skills and concepts that underpin the incredible innovations present throughout Nissan SUVs like the 2017 Nissan Pathfinder®. You can come in to Hall Nissan Virginia Beach to check out all of the features offered in this well-engineered SUV, like the newly tuned suspension, Intelligent Cruise Control, and Intelligent Safety Shield Technologies.