September 12, 2002
ENGINEERING COMPETITION CHALLENGES STUDENTS
TO TACKLE URBAN POLLUTION USING BIOTECHNOLOGY
Will algae and fish clean up polluted waterways in cities of the future? Will mustard plants extract lead and other heavy metals from contaminated land? Tens of thousands of middle school students nationwide will explore these and other new technologies for environmental protection in the 2003 National Engineers Week Future City CompetitionTM. Schools have until October 31 to register.
Since 1992, Future City has offered seventh- and eighth-graders the opportunity to design cities of tomorrow on computer and in three-dimensional models. The competition also asks students to concentrate their efforts on a particular area of urban need, applying know-how, research and imagination to resolve typical dilemmas facing today's cities. For 2003, students will investigate the ability of biotechnology to reduce industrial pollution.
Students work in teams under the guidance of a teacher and volunteer engineer from the local community and present their future cities at one of 31 regional competitions across America in January 2003. Regional winning teams receive all-expense-paid trips to Washington, D.C. for the national competition, February 17-19, during National Engineers Week, February 16-22, 2003. First prize there is a trip to U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.
More than 100,000 students have participated during the first ten years of Future City, with 30,000 students from 950 schools participating in 2002. SimCity 3000, the software that creates the cities and is donated to each school by Maxis of Walnut Creek, Calif., forces students to solve urban problems and face the consequences of their actions. Building a coal-burning plant, for instance, may be less expensive than solar power in the short run, but air contaminants may increase health care costs and lower property values, hurting the city's ability to raise tax revenue.
Environmental conservation, an important issue for many young people, will be front and center among Future City participants this year. In addition to building the model, students must write a 300- to 500-word essay, focusing on the promise and limitations of biotechnology in reducing pollution. Students must also submit a 100-word abstract on their city.
Students work many hours, often after school and on weekends, to perfect their models and presentations. Those who've entered before have described the competition as one of the most difficult -- and fun -- projects they've ever worked on.
Along the way, the competition teaches hands-on applications of math and science, subjects that often seem to have little use to students. Organizers say that interest encourages students to keep up their studies and be sufficiently prepared to enter college engineering courses.
"Students learn that math and science are the nuts and bolts of engineering, which is behind almost every working part of our society," says Carol Rieg, National Director of the Future City Competition. "When they discover that they can be a part of that work, it engages them and gets them to think about engineering as a career."
Students also learn life lessons. "They learn to work as a team, cooperate, share research duties, brainstorm, compromise, reach consensus and make deadlines," says Rieg, "all critical components of engineering and many other careers."
Although some schools have already begun their city designs, there's still plenty of time for interested middle school students to participate if they act now. Contact National Director Carol Rieg at the toll-free information line -- 1-877-636-9578 -- or by email at crieg@futurecity.org. Rieg stresses, however, that October 31 is the final date to register for the 2003 competition.
The National Engineers Week Future City Competition is sponsored by the National Engineers Week Committee, a consortium of professional and technical societies and major U.S. corporations, co-chaired in 2003 by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and Lockheed Martin.
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