The Edmond Sun

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January 20, 2012

Future City competition features middle school students

3 Edmond area schools participate

Special to The Sun

EDMOND — Can local middle schoolers do a better job of solving our nation’s energy crisis than our world leaders?

Since the start of the school year, students from across Oklahoma have been participating in the 19th annual National Engineers Week Foundation’s 2011-12 Future City Competition. Now the moment of truth draws near as the regional finals are set to unfold on Saturday at Oklahoma Christian University at the Gaylord Center.

Edmond-area students from three middle schools will attend including Deer Creek Middle School, Sequoyah Middle School and Summit Middle School.

Each year, Future City presents themes that highlight a current issue and asks participants to investigate and come up with solutions. Students start with a research essay describing their concept. They are also required to write a City Narrative outlining the key features of their city.

This year, students have been asked to address the theme: “Fuel your Future: Imagine new ways to meet our energy needs and maintain a healthy planet.”

The objective is to design a method of providing electricity for a future city using an energy source that does not deplete natural resources and has limited impact on the environment.

 Future Cities are dazzling and colorful, constructed from recycled materials and built for less than $100.

Preliminary judging is 8:30 a.m. to noon and finals judging is 1-3 p.m.

Nationally, 37 regions from around the country are holding similar competitions. First-place winners from each qualifying regional competition earn a berth in the national finals in Washington, D.C., set to take place during National Engineers Week, Feb. 19-25. The national finals grand prize is a visit to U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., provided by national finals host Bentley Systems Inc. The second place team receives $5,000 from the National Society of Professional Engineers and third place wins $2,000 from IEEE-USA for their schools’ technology programs. Shell is also a national sponsor for the competition.

“Conserving our country’s natural energy resources and find new ways to create energy is hot-button issue right now,” said Oklahoma Regional Coordinator Todd Heimer. “This year’s challenge should attract even more attention than usual, as we are asking our students to tackle critical issues that our national leaders are grappling with as well.”

Judging will take place in Gaylord Center, 2501 E. Memorial Road.

For information on judging or mentoring the Future City Competition, visit www.futurecity.org or contact Todd Heimer at todd@okfuturecity.org or call 401-8404.

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