Welcome!
Welcome to the Washington (Seattle) Future City Region!
The mission of the Future City Competition is to provide a fun and exciting educational engineering program for sixth, seventh and eighth-grade students that combines a stimulating engineering challenge with a “hands-on” application to present their vision of a city of the future.
This will be accomplished by:
- Fostering engineering skills, such as teamwork, communication and problem solving skills;
- Providing interaction among students, teachers, and engineer mentors;
- Informing the community about the multi-disciplines within the engineering profession;
- Inspiring students to explore futuristic concepts and careers in engineering.
The National Engineers Week Future City Competition requires:
- Problem-solving
- Team work
- Research and presentation skills
- Practical math and science applications
- Computer skills
Regional Overview
The Future City Competition is a national program sponsored by the engineering community to promote technological literacy and engineering to middle school students. It is in its 23rd year of existence. This is the 20th year the Regional Competition has been held in the State of Washington and the 17th year that it has been hosted by the Seattle Section IEEE in Seattle. The local Regional Competition is organized and managed by a local steering committee and supported financially by local sponsors.
The program fosters an interest in math, science, and engineering through hands-on, real world applications. The competition is open to all public, private, home, and parochial schools. The Regional Finals of the Future City Competition are held in January every year. The National Finals of the Future City Competition are a featured event during National Engineers Week, with students from across the country competing in Washington, D.C. The winning team from Washington State Regional Competition will advance to the national competition in Washington, D.C.
Washington Teacher / Mentor Workshop
Specific information about our Washington Region – our regional competition format, time lines, details on the competition deliverables and guidance on using the handbook and Future City Website. Please note our timeline and deliverables are preliminary. Follow the links below to download the slide decks.
The Challenge: Design and Build a Future City
The solution includes developing a project plan, a team-made physical scale model, an essay, a narrative, and an oral presentation.
Students can still explore building virtual city using SimCity software. SimCity codes available upon registration
1. City Essay – Due 12/18/22
Students describe the unique attributes of their city and provide a solution to this year’s challenge: Choose a climate change impact and design one innovative and futuristic climate change adaptation and one mitigation strategy to keep your residents healthy and safe.
(1,500 words maximum) Late submittal by Jan. 4 – 5 point deduction. by date Jan. 10 – 10 point deduction.
2. Project Plan – 4 Deliverables
Students complete a Project Plan to help them plan and organize their work. They use it throughout the project. (10 points)
11/4/2022 Set Goals
11/18/2022 Create a Schedule
12/16/2022 Conduct Check-in Sessions
01/13/2023 Reflect on the project
1 pt deduction for each late project plan submittal
3. City Model Slide Show – Due 1/21/2023
Students build a physical model of a section of their city using recycled materials. In addition to showcasing
their city of the future, the City Model must also show the team’s solution to this year’s challenge and include at
least one moving part.
4. City Presentation- Due 1/21/2023
Students conduct a 7-minute in person presentation about their future city and their solution to the challenge.
5. City Q&A – Regional Competition – Due 1/21/2023
Students participate in person 10 minute question and answer period with the judges. We are hopeful this will be done in person.