Future City High School Mentor Panel and Special Awards

Awards, Finals Judges, and Mentor Panel

Top Prizes:

A huge thank you to NCEES for providing the scholarship prizes!

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First Place

$10,000 scholarship per student & $20,000 cash prize divided among the students

Second Place

$7,500 scholarship per student & $14,000 cash prize divided among the students

Third Place

$3,000 scholarship per student & $7,000 cash prize divided among the students

Thank you to NCEES for sponsoring the 2025-2026 Top 20 teams to go to Finals!

NCEES is gifting the 2026 Top 20 Finals official team members the following at no cost:

Hotel stay for Saturday, February 14 – Wednesday, February 18*
Registration and participation in the FC High School Competition
Breakfast on competition day, Sunday February 15
Admission to the Future City Expo Hall and Celebration Party
Exclusive High School Networking Event
Future City T-Shirt and Event Bag with Swag

*Hotel date changes and extensions are at the cost of the attendee/ team member.

2026 Finals Judges

Dr. Lester K. Su

Board President

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Dr. Ahmed Ouf

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Community and Regional Planning

Alabama A&M

Dr. Yvette E. Pearson, P.E., F.ASCE, F.ASEE

Associate Dean School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics and Erik Jonsson School of Engineering & Computer Science

UT Dallas

Sherry Hunt

Board President

American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers

Rick Guerra, P.E., F.NSPE

DiscoverE Board Member & Senior Advisor

Guerra Engineering

Special Awards

Special Awards are an optional benefit registered teams can take advantage of! Answers to special award-specific questions will be virtually judged by the sponsor to determine the winner of the Special Award!

Outstanding Future City Project Plan

Project Management Institute Educational Foundation (PMIEF)

Teams should be able to explain how they followed the project cycle when designing their Future City. They should be able to clearly communicate their activities in each stage of the project cycle, including how they created their project schedule, assigned responsibilities, and monitored and controlled their work.

NCEES Professional Licensure Award

National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES)

The design that employs the best engineering practices, taking into consideration the high standards used by professional engineers to help protect the public’s safety and welfare.

Best Green Future City

American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)

In recognition of a student team that demonstrates dynamic use of engineering concepts that promote sustainability through community, conservation, and circular economy.

Outstanding City Essay

DiscoverE

This award is given to the team with the overall highest City Essay score as judged by the Virtual Qualification Round Judges.

Outstanding City Model

DiscoverE

This award is given to the team with the overall highest City Model score as judged by the Virtual Qualification Round Judges.

People's Choice Award

DiscoverE

This award is given to the team that is voted by the general public to have the best model.

Show Your Support!

Volunteer as a Middle School Finals Judge – Register Now!
Sponsor a part of the Finals Experience

2025-2026 Mentor Panel

The 2025-26 Mentor Panel are dedicated to supporting all Future City High School teams on their journey through the competition.

How will they do that? Through a series of scheduled Mentor calls, students can engage with our Mentors to ask questions, gain technical guidance on critical theme topics, receive feedback on their designs as they navigate the Engineering Design Process to build their cities of the future and gain valuable insights on engineering careers.

Can’t attend the mentor sessions or have additional questions for our mentors? Official Future City High School team members can submit their questions to Maddy@DiscoverE.org throughout the season to be addressed by the Mentors.