Press Kit

Future City 2025

 

More than 70,000 students compete every year from 37+ regions in the United States and three from China. Join us in Washington, D.C. for the Future City 2025 Finals!

Congratulations to the Regional Teams advancing to Finals!

Future City has something for Educators, Students, and Mentors—working as a team.

Press Releases:

DiscoverE Announces 2025 Future City® Competition Winners: Students Engineer Floating Cities to Tackle Rising Seas

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2025 – DiscoverE (Discover Engineering) has announced the winners of the 2025 Future City® global STEM Competition, celebrating the innovative minds of both middle and high school students who tackled this year’s challenge: “Above the Current.” Participants envisioned sustainable, floating cities that address rising sea levels and climate change, demonstrating creativity, engineering prowess, and teamwork.

Since last fall, middle school students in 37 U.S. regions and teams from around the world have imagined, designed, and built cities for DiscoverE’s 2024-2025 Future City® Competition. The high school competition saw 83 teams, comprising almost 300 students from across the U.S. and China, engage in imagining, researching, designing, and building cities of the future. Emphasizing the engineering design process and project management, students collaborated in teams, led by coaches, to create an essay and a digital model showcasing a sustainable city solving the annual challenge. The competition culminated in a live presentation before a panel of STEM professionals.

Middle School Winners

  • Grand Prize: Team Salacia, designed by students from Downingtown Middle School in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, won the top honor at the 33rd annual Future City Competition. Guided by educator Lisa Pershall and mentor Thomas Chmielenski, the team earned a trip to U.S. Space Camp and a $7,500 grant for their school’s STEM program, courtesy of Bentley Systems, Inc.

  • Second Place: The Floating Dutchmen team from Farnsworth Middle School, representing the New York (Albany) region, earned a $5,000 STEM scholarship sponsored by Shell.

  • Third Place: FSA TEAM 4/Bangkok Bn Na from Fulton Science Academy Private School in Alpharetta, Georgia secured a $2,000 STEM scholarship sponsored by Bechtel.

  • Fourth & Fifth Place: Mesa Accelerated and Gifted Academy in Mesa, Arizona and Isla de Diamantes in St. Clair, Missouri each received $750 for their STEM programs, sponsored by NCEES (National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying).

High School Winners

In this inaugural year of the Future City High School Competition, cash prizes and scholarships are sponsored by DiscoverE and NCEES.

  • Grand Prize: Team New Malé from Fulton Science Academy Private School in Alpharetta, Georgia won, securing a $20,000 cash prize and a $10,000 scholarship for each student. Led by coach Annie Nelson, the team showcased a visionary sustainable city through digital modeling and research.

  • Second Place: Colorado Academy in Littleton, Colorado earned a $14,000 cash prize and a $7,000 scholarship per student.

  • Third Place: Al-hadi School of Accelerative Learning from Houston, Texas received a $7,000 cash prize and a $3,000 scholarship per student.

About Future City

Future City is one of the world’s leading engineering education programs, engaging students in real-world problem-solving through STEM-based projects. DiscoverE works to cultivate a skilled engineering workforce, with program evaluations showing:

  • 84% of middle school students see math and science as vital to their future due to Future City.
  • 93% of educators say their students learn STEM concepts not typically covered in standard curricula.
  • 88% of high school coaches report their students improve in research, problem-solving, and confidence in STEM activities.

Sponsors & Supporters

DiscoverE’s Future City program is made possible by generous sponsors:

Get Involved

Future City thrives on the support of dedicated volunteers. If you’re passionate about inspiring the next generation of engineers, visit www.futurecity.org for opportunities to mentor, judge, or participate.

About DiscoverE

DiscoverE is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Their initiatives include Engineers Week, Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day™, World Engineering Day, Chats with Changemakers, and outreach for the Cities of the Future and Dream Big films.

DiscoverE leads a growing volunteer movement that inspires and informs future generations about engineering. Their network includes volunteers from 100+ professional societies, major corporations, and government agencies who work to introduce students, parents, and educators to engineering through hands-on experiences that make science and math relevant.

For more information, visit www.discovere.org.

 

Fact Sheet:

  • The 33rd annual Future City Competition for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade STEM students is September 2024 through February 2025. This year’s Future City challenge is to design a floating city and provide two innovative examples of how their floating city works to keep their citizens healthy and safe.
  • Competition finals of nationwide regional winners are held during Engineer’s week, February 14 to 18, 2025 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill at 400 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.
  • Winners will be announced February 18, 2025.

Digital Resources:

What teachers, students, and volunteers are saying:

“Students research, write, build, think, and work as a team. We have lots of clubs at my school, but I think Future City is the most inclusive of all the things we try to teach our kids.”

– John Boyd
Haynes Magnet School
North Carolina Educator

“I think Future City is an easy way to have students have fun and learn about engineering.”

– 7th Grade Student

“As a judge, I was amazed with the intelligence and quick thinking that they showed during the questions and answers period. I am quite optimistic with the future of our world after seeing the tremendous young talents gathered from all over the world.”

– Desmond Chan
Finals Judge

“The middle schoolers liked running ideas past me and being treated like a colleague. It gave them the sense that what they were doing wasn’t confined to the classroom – it felt like the real-world.”

– Jarom Wagoner, AICP
Mentor
Senior Planner for the City of Caldwell, Idaho

 

Archive

Future City is open to kids in grades 6, 7, and 8 who are from the same school, a home school environment or are members of a nationally, regionally, or state-recognized youth-focused organization, such as the Boy and Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, or 4-H.

Looking for more?
Contact futurecity@discovere.org