Regional finals in Future City Competition create a vision of the future

In conjunction with National Engineers Week (NEW), Chicago engineering societies will host a student design competition for area schools. The contest, known as the Future City Competition (www.futurecitychicago.org), will require middle grade students with the assistance of an engineer mentor to design a future city with SimCity 4 Deluxe software and then build a 3-D table top model to scale.

This program has been developed by engineers to provide much needed technological education to the students. According to Bob Johnson, spokesman for the Chicago program, the competition is celebrating its 17th year anniversary and is the only one of the 39 regional programs that has competed all years. "Currently, teams from more than 30 Chicago-area middle schools are starting work on their futuristic cities using the SimCity software and beginning to write their essays." This year’s essay topic is to create a self-sufficient system within the home that conserves, recycles, and reuses existing water sources."

Regional Chairman Don Wittmer notes, "It is exciting to see the interaction between the students and witness the enthusiasm that these students have in learning about engineering and the real-life problems that are encountered everyday. Our hope is that this competition helps students consider the possibility of studying engineering when they attend college."

Derek Johnson, co-coordinator adds, "It is a great experience for all involved—the students have fun while learning about engineering and gaining valuable teamwork and presentation skills. Engineers, mentors, judges, and volunteers always leave impressed by the students’ ability and enthusiasm."

Locally, the regional judging for the competition will take place Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, 750 South Halsted. Judging of the projects will begin 8:30 a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m. The winners will be announced at an Awards Ceremony beginning about 3:00 p.m. The student models will be on display until the conclusion of the awards ceremony. The public is invited and encouraged to see the vision of the future as seen by Chicagoland’s 7th and 8th grade students. There is no cost to attend.

All participants will receive gifts courtesy of the Chicagoland Engineers Week Committee and local engineering/architecture firms. In addition, team members from the winning school will advance to the final judging in Washington, D.C., during National Engineers Week, Feb. 15-21, 2009. The winner of the national competition will receive a week’s trip to Space Camp. Top teams from the Regional Competition will be honored at the Annual Chicagoland Engineers Benefit, Feb. 20, 2009.

For detailed information on the competition, call 703-684-2852 or Don Wittmer at 312-930-9119, or visit www.futurecitychicago.org.