Overview

The Future City Competition is a national program sponsored by the engineering community to promote technological literacy and engineering to middle school students. It is in its 18th year of existence. This is the 12th year the Regional Competition has been held in the State of Washington and the 9th year that it has been hosted by the Seattle Section IEEE in Seattle. The local Regional Competition is organized and managed by a local steering committee and supported financially by local sponsors.

The program fosters an interest in math, science, and engineering through hands-on, real world applications. The competition is open to all public, private, home, and parochial schools. The Regional Finals of the Future City Competition will be held in Seattle Washington at the Seattle Center on Saturday, January 23, 2010. The National Finals of the Future City Competition are a featured event during National Engineers Week, with students from across the country competing in Washington, D.C. The winning team from Washington State Regional Competition will advance to the national competition in Washington, D.C.

The Challenge: Design and Build a Future City

The solution includes developing a project plan, a logical model of the city using SimCity 4 software, a team-made physical scale model, an essay, a narrative, and an oral presentation.

1. Computer Design of a Future City

Students use SimCity 4 Deluxe^TM software to design a city that has progressed at least 150 years in the future and has a population of at least 50,000. Students self-score their Future City computer design to ensure they have met all the required design elements. The teacher or mentor must attest to the accuracy of this score sheet.

2. Model of Future City

Students select an area of their Future City to be represented in a model they build. The physical model will be built using recycled materials and can be no larger than 25" (W) x 50" (L) x 20" (H).

3. Research Essay

Students write a 700-1000 word essay citing at least 3 sources of information. This year's essay topic is; "Providing an affordable green living space for people who have lost their home due to a disaster or financial emergency."

4. Future City Narrative

Students write a 300-500 word City Narrative describing their Future City's key features. The engineer mentor or teacher must attest that the narrative was written entirely by the students.

5. Oral Presentation