National Engineers' Week Futurecity Competition™

ST. THOMAS MORE SCHOOL IN BATON ROUGE  
WINS 2005 NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEK FUTURE CITY COMPETITION

Future City “L’Etoile Directice” Depicts Life in the Future off the Louisiana Coast

WASHINGTON, February 23 – A city of the future – “L’Etoile Directice” – engineered by students from St. Thomas More School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has won the 2005 National Engineers Week Future City Competition TM . The students – Lauren Arikol, Lisa Lynch, and Kathleen O’Hara – teamed up with their teacher Shirley Newman, and volunteer engineer mentor Jacque “Jack” Lasseigne, an engineer with Young Wardlow Lasseigne Structural Engineers in Baton Rouge. St. Thomas More was the winner of the Louisiana regional competition, held on January 14 in Lafayette.

     Teams from 32 middle schools nationwide, winners of regional competitions in January, participated in the Future City National Finals on Monday through Wednesday, February 21-23 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia. Second place went to Epiphany Catholic School in Miami, from the Florida competition, for their Future City “Ektara.” Our Lady Help of Christians School in Abington, Pennsylvania, from the Philadelphia competition, took third place honors for their Future City, “Abington.”

     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 St. Thomas More 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 invites 7 th- and 8 th-grade students to create a city of the future using SimCity 3000 software – donated to each participating school by Electronic Arts of Redwood City, California. Working with a teacher and volunteer engineer mentor, the teams then build a large, tabletop scale model of a portion of their city, and present and defend their designs before a panel of judges at the competition. The cities contend with pollution, unemployment, security, crime rates, and other real-life problems – with no deficit spending. Students also have written an essay on creating future transportation systems using basic aggregates – stone, sand, and gravel. This year’s essay challenge was sponsored by the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association.

     Future City National Finals teams this year represented 17 public schools, seven parochial, five private, and three home-schooled groups, and were comprised of 53 boys and 43 girls. As varied as the regional winners may be, they all have one thing in common: a program that challenges them to explore science, math, engineering, arts, and writing and, at the same time, discover abilities they never knew they had.

     Teaching students to hone the skills that solve real-world problems is at the core of Future City. Now in its 13 th year, Future City encourages interest in engineering by providing hands-on applications for math and science, and lays the foundation for developing workplace skills such as vision and imagination, troubleshooting, teamwork and cooperation. Volunteer mentors offer what is often a student's first glimpse into the world of engineering, a step in encouraging a career in the field.

     Future City is sponsored in part by Engineers Week, February 20-26, a consortium of more than 100 engineering societies and major corporations, founded in 1951 to increase public awareness and appreciation of the engineering profession and technology. Co-chairs for 2005 are ASME (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and BP, p.l.c. For more information, visit www.futurecity.org and www.eweek.org.

     In addition to the Top Five teams announced at the Future City National Finals on Wednesday morning, 32 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: St. Thomas More School, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from the Louisiana regional competition. The St. Thomas More team receives a trip to US Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, provided by Bentley Systems, Incorporated.

Second Place: Epiphany Catholic School in Miami, Florida, from the Florida regional competition. Epiphany receives a $2,000 scholarship for the school's technology program, provided by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME).

Third Place: Our Lady Help of Christians School in Abington, Pennsylvania, from the Philadelphia regional competition. Our Lady Help of Christians receives a $1,000 scholarship for the school’s technology program, provided by The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE).

Fourth Place: St. Philip Neri School in Midwest City, Oklahoma, from the Oklahoma regional competition.

Fifth Place: Valley Middle School in Oakland, New Jersey, from New York City regional competition.

Best Essay, sponsored by the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association: St. John Lutheran School in Rochester, Michigan, from the Michigan regional competition.

Best Model, sponsored by BP, p.l.c.: Epiphany Catholic School in Miami, Florida, from the Florida regional competition.

Most Innovative Design of Infrastructure Systems, sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE): Our Lady Help of Christians School in Abington, Pennsylvania, from the Philadelphia regional competition.

Best Indoor Environment, sponsored by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE): Nativity of Our Lord School from Orchard Park, New York, from the Buffalo regional competition.

Best Futuristic City, sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International (ASME): Hubble Middle School in Wheaton, Illinois, from the Chicago regional competition.

Best Communications System, sponsored by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – USA (IEEE-USA): King Middle School in Oceanside, California, from the Southern California regional competition.

Protecting Public Health and Safety through Competent and Ethical Engineering Practices, sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE): Epiphany Catholic School in Miami, Florida, from the Florida regional competition.

Most Innovative Power Generation System, sponsored by the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program: King Middle School in Oceanside, California, from the Southern California regional competition.

Best Manufacturing Zone, sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME): St. Leonard School from Muskego, Wisconsin, from the Milwaukee regional competition.

Best Transportation System, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation – Federal Highway Administration: Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Houston, Texas, from the Texas-Houston regional competition.

Excellence In Systems Integration, sponsored by the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE): Cherry Creek Challenge School in Denver, Colorado, from the Colorado regional competition.

Best Residential Zone, sponsored by the Chinese Institute of Engineers/USA (CIE-USA):Southern Hills Academy in Chillicothe, Ohio, from the Ohio regional competition.

Best Futuristic Personal Transportation System, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company: St. John Lutheran School in Rochester, Michigan, from the Michigan regional competition.

Best Use of Aerospace Technology, sponsored by The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) – National Capital Section (NCS): Birchland Park Middle School in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, from the New England regional competition.

Best Use of Innovative Construction Materials and Techniques, sponsored by the American Society for Quality – Design and Construction Division: The Westwood School in Dallas, Texas, from the North Texas regional competition.

Best Representation of Manufacturer Supply Chains, sponsored by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Kimberly-Clark: Mendenhall Middle School in Greensboro, North Carolina, from the North Carolina regional competition.

Best Land Surveying Practices, sponsored by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES): Maple Hill Middle School in Castleton-on-Hudson, New York, from the Albany (Capital District) regional competition.

Best Use of Information Technology, sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): West Side Home Educators in Peoria, Arizona, from the Phoenix 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: Epiphany Catholic School in Miami, Florida, from the Florida regional competition.

Best Disaster Contingency Planning and Response, sponsored by the Association for Facilities Engineering: Westridge Middle School in Overland Park, Kansas, from the Kansas (Great Plains) regional competition.

Best Integrated City, sponsored by Bentley Systems, Inc.: Pine Middle School in Reno, Nevada, from the Northern Nevada regional competition.

Most Healthy Community, sponsored by the American Institute of Architects: Epiphany Catholic School in Miami, Florida, from the Florida regional competition.

Most Interesting Weight Saving Use for Plastics for cars driven in a future city, sponsored by the American Plastics Council: Papillion Junior High School in Papillion, Nebraska, from the Omaha regional competition.

Most Interesting Form of Plastics used in the building of homes in a future city, sponsored by the American Plastics Council: Harding Middle School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, from the Iowa regional competition.

Best Fire Protection Engineering, sponsored by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers: Epiphany Catholic School in Miami, Florida, from the Florida regional competition.

Most Innovative Design/Construction Approach to Achieving Environmental Sustainability, sponsored by the Army Corps of Engineers: Nativity of Our Lord School from Orchard Park, New York, from the Buffalo regional competition.

Best Use of Recycled Aluminum in a Future City, sponsored by Alcoa: Kenmore Middle School in Arlington, Virginia, from the Washington, D.C. regional competition.

Excellence in Education for High-tech Manufacturing, sponsored by the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center: St. Bede School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from the Pittsburgh 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: Edna Brewer Middle School in Oakland, California, from the Northern California regional competition.

Best Integrated Use of Public Infrastructure, sponsored by Siemens Corporation: Valley Middle School in Oakland, New Jersey, from the New York City regional competition.

Best Use of Fuel Cell Systems as a Sustainable Energy Source, sponsored by Plug Power, Inc.: St. Philip Neri School in Midwest City, Oklahoma, from the Oklahoma regional competition.

People’s Choice Award, selected by the students: St. Bede School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from the Pittsburgh regional competition.

# # #