National Engineers Week
Future City Competition™
The
Challenge:
Design and Build a City of the Future
Each team will create a city displaying residential, commercial, and industrial areas, power plants, transportation systems, communication systems, etc. Students will address important issues such as pollution, traffic density, taxes, and budgets while creating their city.
The solution includes developing a project plan, a logical model of a city using award winning Sim City™ software, a team-made physical scale model, an essay about design issues and a verbal presentation. Software will be provided to registered schools by the regional coordinator. One software package is provided to each registered school.
Competition Guidelines
- Teams representing the school at the regional competition will consist of three students (must be from the same school), an engineer mentor,and a teacher-sponsor.
- The Students, with the help of the engineer-mentor and teacher-sponsor, will design the logical model of the city using SimCity™. The students will print a section of their city to serve as a blueprint for the physical model.
- The team will construct a scale model of the city section using recycled materials (plastic jugs, glass jars, aluminum cans, tubing, etc.) in their designs. The model must be no larger than 25"W x 50"L x 20"H.
- The model must contain at least one moving part. Power sources must be self-contained (no external powerplugs).
- The students will be required to write a 500-700 word essay explaining their response to a specific engineering or design challenge.
- Students will explain the unique design features of their city design during team verbal presentation.
- The total cost of all materials used to make the model and any materials used in support of the verbal presentation may not exceed $100 (cash or in-kind).
- No laptop computers or videos can be used for the presentation.
National Competition Finals
The National Finals are held in Washington, D.C. during National Engineers Week, February 15 - 21, 2009. Regional winners from around the country compete against each other for national honors and prizes.
The National Engineers Week Committee will provide the airfare and hotel accommodations for the five winning team members from each region. Team members will be responsible for all additional expenses such as ground transportation and meals.
