The pressing issue for the upcoming 2019-20 Future City Competition is Clean Water: Tap Into Tomorrow.The Illinois state-level competition will take place Jan. 18 at Whitney-Young Magnet School in Chicago.
Working as a team with an educator and STEM mentor, students will present their vision of the future through a virtual city design (using SimCity software); a 1,500 word city essay; a scale model of their city (built with recycled materials); and in a short presentation to a panel of STEM professionals. Keeping the engineering design process and project management front and center, students are asked to address an authentic, real-world question: How can we make the world a better place?
In the US, more than 40,000 students, representing 1,500 schools and 40 regions, take part in the annual Future City Competition. US regional winners then face off at the Future City® Finals with a growing roster of international teams, including those from Canada and China. Taking place in Washington DC, Feb. 15-19, 2020, during Engineers Week, the competition culminates with one team taking home the grand prize of a trip to U.S. Space Camp and $7,500 for their school’s STEM program (provided by Finals sponsor Bentley Systems).
Future City has ongoing opportunities for engineering and technical professionals to volunteer in several different roles, including team mentors and regional coordinators. For more information about Future City and volunteer opportunities, visit www.futurecity.org.
