Monday, August 15, 2005

2006 Chicago Regional Future City Competition


Chicago area schools are being invited to participate in the 2006 Chicago Regional Future City Competition, which asks 7th and 8th graders to design their visions of the city of the future, first on computer and then as a 3-D model More than 30,000 students from 1,000 schools participated in last year's competition, sponsored by the National Engineers Week Committee, a consortium of engineering associations and major U.S. industries. Co-chairs of 2006 National Engineers Week are the Society of Women Engineers and Northrup Gruman Corporation.

Regional first place teams receive a trip to the national finals, held in Washington D.C. next February 20-22, 2006 during National Engineers Week. Prizes for the 2006 competition winning Future City team include a trip to U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. Other prizes include scholarships, computers and savings bonds.

Chicago Schools wishing to sign up, or engineers interested in volunteering as mentors should contact Don Wittmer, Chicago regional coordinator, at 312/930.9119 or via e-mail. For Competition materials and registration go to www.futurecity.org, and more information is available at the Future City - Chicago Competition home page. The deadline is October 15.

The complete press release is included in the first comment to this post.

1 comment:

Lynn Becker said...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: \
August 2005

CONTACT:
DON WITTMER (312) 930-9119 dwittmer@hntb.com
Don Lehr (212) 967-8200 DLehr@futurecity.org


(headline) CHICAGO IS GETTING AN EARLY START
ON 2006 FUTURE CITY COMPETITION

Chicago, August. This nationwide contest asks Chicago regional seventh and eighth-graders to design and build their visions of the cities of tomorrow. For the past thirteen years, junior high and middle school students from across the country, including the Chicago area, have designed their versions of this city of the future for the National Engineers Week Future City CompetitionTM. This year Chicago is getting an early jump on the contest. In preparation for the competition, Don Wittmer, regional coordinator for Chicago, is requesting Chicago area teachers and engineers to demonstrate an interest in the program. Many of the schools that have participated in the program in prior years have now incorporated the Future City Program into their curriculum.

The non-profit competition asks seventh - and eighth-graders to design -- first on computer, then in a large three-dimensional model -- a city of the future. The students work with their teacher and a volunteer engineer mentor from the comunity. Though they may sound like a fantasy, the designs are far from pie in the sky. The students must take into account real city problems such as pollution, crime, traffic, and unemployment and then solve these issues. Students from the Chicago area will begin work on their future cities in September, and will compete in regional finals in January, 2006 at the University of Illinois - Chicago.

The area's first place team wins a trip to Washington, D.C., for the national competition to be held during National Engineers WeekTM, February 19-25, 2006. National Engineers Week (www.eweek.org) is always celebrated around the time of George Washington's birthday, since, as a surveyor, he was one of the nation's first engineer.

More than 30,000 students from 1000 schools in 35 regions participated in the 2005 competition. It is sponsored by the National Engineers Week Comittee, a consortium of engineering associations and major U.S. industries. Co-chairs of 2006 National Engineers Week are the Society of Women Engineers (www.swe.org) and Northrup Gruman Corporation.

Regional first place teams receive a trip to Washington D.C. for the national finals from February 20-22, 2006 during National Engineers Week. Prizes for the 2006 competition winning Future City team include a trip to U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. Other prizes include scholarships, computers and savings bonds. In addition, teams will be eligible for special awards and recognition sponsored by engineering societies and other organizations.

Schools wishing to sign up for the 2006 Chicago Regional Future City Competition, or engineers interested in volunteering as mentors should contact Don Wittmer, Chicago regional coordinator, at (312) 930-9119 or via e-mail at dwittmer@hntb.com. Future City Competition materials are now available, please register at www.futurecity.org. The deadline for registering is October 15.

More information on the competition can also be found at the Future City -Chicago Competition home page at http://www.futurecitychicago.org.

# # #

Since 1951, NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEKr, has been the nationwide celebration of the engineering profession, to acknowledge the essential role which engineering has played in advancing civilization and adding quality to our lives. In Chicago, activities scheduled include engineering lectures, student outreach efforts, bridge building competitions and exhibitions of engineering achievements. For information of the Chicago program visit the EWEEK-Chicago website at:

www.chicagolandeweek.org
===================================

Editors Note: For information on the Chicago winners see
See photos and additional info @

http://www.isasce.org/fc2.htm
http://www.seaoi.org/html/body_e_week_2003_future.html
http://www.aiche-chicago.org/ifc2003.htm