National Engineers Week's Future City Competition

Engineer: The Professional Bulletin for Army Engineers, May, 2001

To increase public awareness and appreciation of the engineering profession and to help students better understand the practical applications of mathematical and scientific principles, the National Engineers Week Committee sponsors an annual competition. The Engineering Society sponsored the Michigan regional competition at the Spirit of Ford building in Dearborn, Michigan, on 30 January 2001.

Twenty-six teams from schools throughout Michigan participated. The theme centered around future communications. Students designed their future city, plotted a map, built a scale model with a moving part, wrote an essay, and made oral presentations to panels of judges. Ideas for communications ranged from neural implants, to wrist communicators and holographic eyeglasses, to DNA implants. Each school can sponsor one team, consisting of three students, a teacher, and a mentor. St. John Lutheran School from Rochester won the regional event and an award from Ford Motor Co mpany for "Best Transportation." The team went to the National Competition in Washington, D.C., during Engineers Week, 18 through 24 February, and received an award from the American Society of Civil Engineers for "Best Aesthetic Design in Structural Engineering" and an award from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers for "Best Manufacturing Zone." The national champion, St. Barnabas Catholic School from Chicago, Illinois, received a trip to the U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. Next year's materials will be available in mid-August.