February 22, 2006
CHIPPEWA MIDDLE SCHOOL IN SHOREVIEW, MINNESOTA
WINS 2006 NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEK FUTURE CITY COMPETITION
Future City “Joukai” is “heaven on earth” in the year 2192
WASHINGTON , February 22 – A city of the future – “Joukai” – engineered by students from Chippewa Middle School in Shoreview, Minnesota, has won the 2006 National Engineers Week Future City Competition™ . The students – Emily Duffield, Alannah Pratt, and Max Showalter – teamed up with their teacher Nancy Roussin, and volunteer engineer mentor Stefan Gantert, PE, a civil engineer with the Rice County, Minnesota highway department. Chippewa Middle School was the winner of the Minnesota regional competition held on January 28 in Crystal, Minnesota.
Teams from 31 middle schools nationwide, winners of regional competitions in January, participated in the Future City National Finals, February 20-22 at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Second place went to Our Lady Help of Christians School in Abington, Pennsylvania, from the Philadelphia competition, for their Future City “Decodelphia.” St. John Lutheran School in Rochester, Michigan, from the Michigan competition, took third place honors for their Future City, “Deanothen.”
The Future City National Finals is hosted by Bentley Systems, Incorporated, a leading engineering software company, and chair of the competition’s Leadership Council. Bentley also provides the first prize for the Chippewa team – a trip to US Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. All regional winning teams received an all-expense-paid trip to Washington for the National Finals. Future City is sponsored in part by Engineers Week, February 19-25, a consortium of more than 100 engineering societies and major corporations, co-chaired in 2006 by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Northrop Grumman Corporation. Additional funding for the Future City National Finals is provided by EDS, Ford Motor Company, and Shell Oil Company. The 2006 Essay sponsor is the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying.
The Chippewa team’s Future City – Joukai, which means heaven – features an underground transportation system and solar-powered jets. Its highly refined transportation infrastructure, Kim Williams Transportation Technology (KWTT), was created to lower gas emissions and make Joukai more environmentally friendly. One of the most striking features of Joukai’s industrial zone is the Alamaxemy Research Center which developed an improved form of clear photovoltaic paint that can harness up to 80% of the sun’s energy. Its Thermal Depolymerization Process (TDP) system provides the materials to make energy. In combination, the TDP and recycling centers eliminate the need for landfills, reducing carbon dioxide and methane levels in the atmosphere.
Future City, in its 14th year, asks middle school students to create cities of the future, first on computer and then in large tabletop models. Working in teams with a teacher and volunteer engineer mentor, students create their cities using the SimCity 3000 TM videogame donated to all participating schools by Electronic Arts, Inc. of Redwood City, California. They write a city abstract and an essay on using engineering to solve an important social need – this year's theme is creating an “Engineering Feasibility Plan” to redevelop an abandoned strip mall. Then they present and defend their cities before engineer judges at the competition. Some 30,000 students from more than 1,000 schools participated in 2005-06.
Future City National Finals teams this year represented 15 public schools, 10 parochial, four private, and two home-schooled groups, and were comprised of 47 girls and 45 boys. As varied as the regional winners may be, they all have one thing in common: a program that challenges them to explore engineering, science, math, the arts and writing and, at the same time, discover abilities they never knew they had.
The students created detailed – often fantastic – cities of tomorrow that give intriguing insights to how young minds envision their future. At the same time, their bold designs and innovative concepts provide a refreshingly optimistic appreciation of how our nation can realistically deal with the many challenges facing its cities, including environmental disasters, crime, urban decay and urban sprawl. This year’s essay focusing on the rehabilitation of an abandoned strip mall also proved to be an inspirational topic with students across the country, regardless of where they live.
Giving young people a glimpse into engineering is a key goal of Future City, says Carol Rieg, the program’s National Director. “Using SimCity and building the models are what catch the students’ attention,” says Rieg, who helped create the program. “Then they blossom into other aspects of Future City – why engineering is important, the need to plan, the challenges and responsibilities of running a city. They use what they know to solve real world problems and make the program their own.”
In addition to the Top Five teams announced at the Future City National Finals on Wednesday morning, 29 Special Awards were handed out at the Special Awards Luncheon on Wednesday afternoon, sponsored in part by Shell Oil Company. The complete list of awards follows:
First Place: Chippewa Middle School, Shoreview, Minnesota, from the Minnesota regional competition. The Chippewa team receives a trip to US Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, provided by Bentley Systems, Incorporated.
Second Place : Our Lady Help of Christians School in Abington, Pennsylvania, from the Philadelphia regional competition. Our Lady Help of Christians receives a $2,000 scholarship for the school's technology program, provided by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME).
Third Place: St. John’s Lutheran School in Rochester, Michigan, from the Michigan regional competition. St. John’s Lutheran receives a $1,000 scholarship for the school’s technology program, provided by The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE).
Fourth Place : Kingwood Middle School in Kingwood, Texas, from the North Texas regional competition.
Fifth Place : St. Thomas More School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from the Louisiana regional competition.
Best Essay, sponsored by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying: St. Bede School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from the Pittsburgh regional competition.
Best Model, sponsored by Northrop Grumman Corporation: St. Thomas More School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from the Louisiana regional competition.
Best Use of Aerospace Technology, sponsored by The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) – National Capital Section (NCS): St. Barnabas School in Chicago, Illinois, from the Chicago regional competition.
Most Innovative Design of Infrastructure Systems, sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE): Westridge Middle School in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, from the Kansas/Great Plains regional competition.
Best Indoor Environment, sponsored by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE): St. Philip Neri School in Midwest City, Oklahoma, from the Oklahoma regional competition.
Best Futuristic City, sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME): St. John Neumann School in Miami, Florida, from the Florida regional competition.
Best Residential Zone, sponsored by the Chinese Institute of Engineers/ USA (CIE-USA): King Middle School in Oceanside, California, from the California (North) regional competition.
Best Futuristic Personal Transportation System, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company: Bexley Middle School in Bexley, Ohio, from the Ohio regional competition.
Best Communications System, sponsored by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – USA (IEEE-USA): St. Philip Neri School in Midwest City, Oklahoma, from the Oklahoma regional competition.
Protecting Public Health and Safety through Competent and Ethical Engineering Practices, sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE): Classical At Home in Boise, Idaho, from the Idaho regional competition.
Most Innovative Power Generation System, sponsored by the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program: Farnsworth Middle School in Guilderland, New York, from the Albany regional competition.
Best Manufacturing Zone, sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME): Kingwood Middle School in Kingwood, Texas, from the North Texas regional competition.
Best Transportation System, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation – Federal Highway Administration: .Valley Middle School in Oakland, New Jersey, from the New York City regional competition.
Excellence In Systems Integration, sponsored by the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE): St. Barnabas School in Chicago, Illinois, from the Chicago regional competition.
Best Use of Innovative Construction Materials and Techniques, sponsored by the American Society for Quality – Design and Construction Division: Ira Murphy Elementary School in Peoria, Arizona, from the Phoenix regional competition.
Best Representation of Manufacturer Supply Chains, sponsored by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Kimberly-Clark: Riverview Middle School in Huntington, Indiana, from the Indiana regional competition.
Best Land Surveying Practices, sponsored by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES): Anderson Home School in Abbeville, South Carolina, from the South Carolina regional competition.
The Most Innovative Uses of Aggregates (Crushed Stone, Sand and Gravel) in Designing Future Cities, sponsored by the National Stone, Sand, and Gravel Association: St. Alphonsus School in Greendale, Wisconsin, from the Wisconsin regional competition.
Best Integrated City, sponsored by Bentley Systems, Inc.: St. John Lutheran School in Rochester, Michigan, from the Michigan regional competition.
Most Healthy Community, sponsored by the American Institute of Architects: St. Bede School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from the Pittsburgh regional competition.
Most Interesting Weight Saving Use for Plastics for cars driven in a future city, sponsored by the American Plastics Council: St. Thomas More School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from the Louisiana regional competition.
Most Interesting Form of Plastics used in the building of homes in a future city, sponsored by the American Plastics Council: Queen of Angels Catholic School in Roswell, Georgia, from the Georgia regional competition.
Best Fire Protection Engineering, sponsored by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers: Our Lady Help of Christians School in Abington, Pennsylvania, from the Philadelphia regional competition.
Most Innovative Design/Construction Approach to Achieving Environmental Sustainability, sponsored by the Army Corps of Engineers: St. John Lutheran School in Rochester, Michigan, from the Michigan regional competition.
Excellence in Education for High-tech Manufacturing, sponsored by the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center: Turkey Valley Junior High School in Jackson Junction, Iowa, from the Iowa regional competition.
Best Design for Improving the Quality of Life through improvement of water quality, water resources management, water protection or water and wastewater treatment, sponsored by the Water Environment Federation and ITT Industries: Bexley Middle School in Bexley, Ohio, from the Ohio regional competition.
Best Integrated Use of Public Infrastructure, sponsored by Siemens: St. Mary’s School in Swormville, New York, from the Buffalo regional competition.
Best Use of Fuel Cell Systems as a Sustainable Energy Source, sponsored by Plug Power, Inc.: Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Houston, Texas, from the Texas-Houston regional competition.
People’s Choice Award, selected by the students: Kingwood Middle School in Kingwood, Texas, from the North Texas regional competition.
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