Awards & Prizes
Top Prizes:
Middle School Top Prizes
- First Place at the Finals is $9,500 for the organization’s STEM program, sponsored by DiscoverE.
- Second Place is awarded a $6,000 prize for the organization’s STEM program, sponsored by Shell.
- Third Place is $2,500 for the organization’s STEM program, sponsored by Bechtel.
- Forth and Fifth Place teams each receive $1,000 for their organization’s STEM program, sponsored by NCEES (National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying).
High School Top Prizes
In the 2025-2026 season of the Future City High School Competition, cash prizes and scholarships are sponsored by DiscoverE and NCEES.
- First Place at the Finals is $20,000 and a scholarship of $10,000 per student, up to $50,000.
- Second Place is awarded $14,000 and a scholarship of $7,500 per student, up to $35,000.
- Third Place is awarded $7,000 and a scholarship of $3,000 per student, up to $15,000.
Special Awards:
| Award Name | Sponsor | Criteria | |
|---|---|---|---|
| People's Choice Award | Pui Ching Middle School Macau | DiscoverE | This award is given to the team that is voted by the general public to have the best model. |
| Best Visualization of a Smart, Sustainable City | St. Clair Jr. High | American Society of Civil Engineers | A. In what ways does your city incorporate new technologies and materials in novel ways to accommodate growing populations equitably and sustainably? B. How will the new technologies change the way cities look, feel, and function? C. How will your city adapt to future technologies? Is there any infrastructure that serves as the foundation for future technologies? |
| Most Sustainable Food Production System | Pui Ching Middle School Macau | American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers | Design that provides the best sustainable food production system while conserving soil, water and energy. |
| Design-Centered Solutions with Nature | Downington Middle School | American Society of Landscape Architects | This award recognizes the thoughtful work of landscape architects through the power of design and nature. Landscape architects harness the power of natural resources to demonstrate the application of design thinking. Discover and challenge your creativity by incorporating nature-based solutions to real world problems such as climate change, air and water pollution, threats to biodiversity, unsafe cities and neighbors, and overpopulation while consuming fewer resources. |
| #AQOLFA Award: Advancing Quality of Life for All | Joseph K Lumdens Bahweting Anishnabe Academy | APWA | Design that best demonstrates advancing quality of life for all. Public works is advancing the quality of life for all every day through public services that: improve mobility, provide clean water, reduce the use of natural resources, provide public places for people to come together, and provide a safer place to live, work, and play. |
| Best Futuristic City | Las Vegas Day School | ASME | Use of futuristic engineering concepts into city's communications, energy, or transportation systems |
| Best Residential Zone | Lionville Middle School | Chinese Institute of Engineers-USA | Best residential design features. |
| The City of the Future that Best Incorporates Cultural Historical Resources | The Brawley School | Cuban-American Association of Civil Engineers, Inc. | The city whose design best incorporates historical and cultural sites, buildings, infrastructure, and customs. |
| Outstanding Future City Project Plan | Mesa Accelerated and Gifted Academy | Project Management Institute Educational Foundation | 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. Finally, teams should be able to explain what they learned during their project by answering the kinds of questions that they ask themselves during their team reflection. Samples of work that highlight teams’ project management activities are encouraged. |
| Outstanding City Model | West Ridge Middle School | DiscoverE | This award is given to the team with the overall highest score as judged during the National Preliminary Judging of the Model. |
| Outstanding City Essay | Mesa Accelerated and Gifted Academy | DiscoverE | This award is given to the team with the overall highest City Essay score as judged by the Finals Judges. |
| Best Transportation System for the Community | Centerville Junior High | Institute of Transportation Engineers | Design that thoughtfully integrates safe and equitable ways to move people around their communities. Considers multiple modes of sustainable transportation (with strong connections between different modes), prioritizes citizens’ health and safety, and creates equitable access across the city. Uses advanced and futuristic technology in ways that support these overarching goals. |
| Best Management of Water Resources | JerserySTEM | Bentley Systems | Efficient design of water treatment and distribution for human consumption, agriculture, industry, recreation, and fire protection. Responsible sewage collection and treatment for environmental protection and community aesthetics. Innovative stormwater collection, treatment, reuse and/or discharge back into the environment. |
| NCEES Best Land Surveying Practices | Pike Valley Junior High | NCEES | The NCEES Best Land Surveying Practices special award recognizes the design that employs the best land surveying practices, taking into consideration the high standards used by surveyors to protect the public’s health, safety, and welfare. Teams should be able to demonstrate the skills surveyors provide in the design and development of their future city. |
| Professional Engineering Award | Edmond Heights K-12 | National Society of Professional Engineers | In planning, designing, building, and maintaining your city, please explain and give examples of steps you will undertake to: Ensure your city’s engineers are competent professionals; Comply with engineering safety codes and technical standards; and Reject behavior that misleads or deceives the public. |
| Excellence in Resilience Engineering | Wood Dale Jr High School | UL- Research Institutes | Demonstration of excellence in the city design of resilient systems that withstand and quickly adapt to adverse circumstances and events like natural disasters. |
| Best Use of Nuclear Science | Vontas | American Nuclear Society | Must leverage nuclear science and/or technology in a safe, environmentally conscious manner. |
| Most Advanced Smart Grid Award | Warwick Middle School | IEEE-USA | This year’s Future City Challenge theme is “Above the Current,” where students will design a floating city 100 years into the future on a body of water. Best incorporation of Smart Grid technologies for the safe, efficient, and reliable delivery of electricity throughout the city. A Smart Grid is the modernization of the electric power system by applying advanced software tools, computer controls, automation and two-way communications. Benefits include improved reliability, lower energy bills, more energy choices (including renewables such as wind, hydro, and solar), and fewer and shorter power outages. |
| People's Choice Award (High School) | Leap4Ward School | DiscoverE | This award is given to the team that is voted by the general public to have the best model. |
| Outstanding City Essay (High School) | Leap4Ward School | DiscoverE | This award is given to the team with the overall highest City Essay score as judged by the Finals Judges. |
| Best Green Future City (High School) | Troy High School | ASME | In recognition of a student team that demonstrates dynamic use of engineering concepts that promote sustainability through community, conservation, and circular economy. |
| NCEES Professional Licensure Award (High School) | STEM Skool, Inc. | 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. |
| Outstanding Future City Project Plan (High School) | Lake Washington High School | 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. |