DCBEST (Denton County Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology) is a non-profit- volunteer-based organization whose mission is to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science, and technology through participation in a sports like, science- and engineering-based robotics competition.

DCBEST was established in 1997 as the eighth hub in what is currently the 33-hub, 15 state BEST Robotics Inc., a non-profit organization established in 1993. BEST Robotics has had a steady growth from the initial hub with 14 teams and 221 students started under the sponsorship of Texas Instruments in North Texas to the current 33 hubs, 650 plus teams and over 10,000 students participating in 2008.

The BEST Robotics competition is not just about robots. Students are required to turn in a notebook with drawings and sketches detailing the engineering/problem-solving process they used to solve the challenge. Teams also participate in oral presentations about the project and build a display booth to show their project and process to other teams, parents, and visitors on game/competition day. Judging for the BEST award includes the presentations, notebooks, displays, the robot, and other factors observed by the game day judges.

In the 2009 DCBEST competition, 13 middle/high schools with 220 students participated. Fifty (50) volunteers from UNT and the community worked many months in advance and on game day to provide a successful event.

DCBEST was initially funded and sponsored through the Boeing Corporation (Corinth, Texas). Funding was not a concern until the Boeing Company closed the plant in Corinth and sold the business to Labinal Corporation. Labinal continued the funding for a year but was not able to continue full funding. A one-time $10,000 grant from a local developer plus a grant from Peterbuilt funded the DCBEST competitions in 2005 and 2006. In 2006, for the first time in DCBEST history, the DCBEST organizers were unable to use the UNT Coliseum because of a funding shortfall. In 2007 , 2008 and 2009 the generous contributions of 20 sponsors and the donation of the use of the UNT Coliseum enabled DCBEST to hold the competition at UNT.

DCBEST funds are used to pay for the BEST Robotics franchise fee, expendable game kits, replacement of defective returnable game kit parts, awards, and volunteer support. Schools are provided all needed parts to build the robot at no cost. The total cost for the 2009 competition was $10,000.00

DCBEST needs the support of Denton/Denton County_businesses and organizations and individuals to secure funding for the 20010 competition and continued future funding to keep DCBEST in operation for the education of Denton and Denton County students.