Chicago Press Releases

Award-Winning Future City Competition

Announces Theme for 2020-21:

Living on the Moon

29th Annual International Competition

Asks Middle School Students to Imagine a City on the Moon

At Least One-Hundred Years In the Future

CHICAGO– In 2020-21, for the first time ever, the program has been adapted to today’s virtual world and both the regional finals and the Future City Finals will take place completely…

Award-winning Future City® Competition announces theme for 2020-21:
LIVING ON THE MOON

ALBANY -  September 30, 2020 – The dream of living on the Moon has inspired humanity for eons. Artists, writers, scientists, engineers, futurists and many others have vividly imagined what a thriving city on the lunar surface might look like. 

Today, the challenges of sustained lunar living, while immense, are within our grasp to conceive of and plan for. With this goal in mind, the award-winning Future City® Competition, now in its 29th year,…

WASHINGTON DC, September 15, 2020 – The dream of living on the Moon has inspired humanity for eons. Artists, writers, scientists, engineers, futurists and many others have vividly imagined what a thriving city on the lunar surface might look like.

Today, the challenges of sustained lunar living, while immense, are within our grasp to conceive of and plan for. With this goal in mind, the award-winning Future City® Competition, now in its 29th year, announces Living on the Moon, the 2020-21 theme for its project-based learning experience for…

29th Annual International Competition

Asks Middle School Students to Imagine a City on the Moon

One-Hundred Years In the Future

Chicago— The challenges of sustained lunar living, while immense, are within our grasp to conceive of and plan for. With the tantalizing concept of permanent human life on the Moon closer than ever to becoming a reality, the award-winning Future City® Competition, now in its 29th year, announces Living on the Moon, the 2020-21 theme for its project-…

New location: The University of Illinois at Chicago- Student Center West, 2nd floor, Thompson ABC Room. 

Check out the Regional Agenda and Schedule for more details. See you there! 

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CHICAGO —.  The pressing issue for the award-winning, project-based Future City® Competition is Clean Water: Tap Into Tomorrow for its 2020 competition. The State of Illinois Future City®…

CHICAGO — The final deadline to register for the 28th Annual Future City Competition is Oct. 31., 2019.  The team registration fee is $25.00 per team.  The pressing issue for the upcoming Future City® Competition is Clean Water: Tap Into Tomorrow for its 2019-2020 competition. Registration is open to middle schoolers for the award-winning, project-based learning experience. The State of Illinois Future City® Competition is planned for Sat.,…

Chicago  — The  State of Illinois Future City® Competition is Calling for Mentors to work with school teams in the upcoming competition titled "Clean Water: Tap Into Tomorrow" for its 2019-2020 competition. Specific experience in the concept is helpful; however, knowledge of how to evaluate ideas and problems is desired and valuable to the student teams. Being a mentor is an excellent way for you and your company to participate in building future leaders in the…

28th Annual International Competition Asks Middle School Students to Design a Resilient System to Maintain a Clean Water Supply- DiscoverE Program

CHICAGO — The pressing issue for the upcoming Future City® Competition is Clean Water: Tap Into Tomorrow for its 2019-2020 competition. Registration is open to middle schoolers for the award-winning, project-based learning experience. The State of Illinois Future City®…

The Future City Competition Regional Finals took place in Chicago on Saturday, January 19th at Whitney Young Magnet High School. The competition is the culmination of months spent by junior high school teams and their engineering mentors to create a city of the future. Students submit a working project plan, present their solutions via a virtual city design (using SimCity), write an essay describing the unique attributes of their city and their solution to the year’s challenge (Powering Our Future); build a scale model, and give a presentation to judges. Regional winners…

Theme: Design a Power Grid That Can Withstand and Recover from Natural Disaster

URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) -- A group of middle school students is taking its creativity to a competition in Chicago. See video here.

If you have a problem with the link, cut and paste this link into your browser. https://www.wcia.com/news/local-news/club-shows-off…

Theme: Design a Power Grid That Can Withstand and Recover from Natural Disaster

Chicago —   Over 20 teams are set to compete in State of Illinois Future City Competition this Sat., Jan. 19 at Whitney Young Magnet High School. This year’s theme is “Powering Our Future.”  The sixth-eighth graders are preparing to compete in the local competition and the regional winning team will face off on the international level in Washington, DC on Feb. 19, 2019.

Here is the Competition Day Schedule:  

Students Prepare for 27th Annual Award-Winning Future City Competition on Jan. 19, 2019 at Whitney Young Magnet High School

Theme: Design a Power Grid That Can Withstand and Recover from Natural Disaster

 Chicago — The 2019 State of Illinois Future City Competition will be held on Sat., Jan. 19 at Whitney Young Magnet High School in Chicago.  This year’s theme is “Powering Our Future.”  The sixth-eighth graders are preparing to compete in the local competition and the regional winning team…

27th Annual International Competition Asks State of Illinois Middle School Students to Design a Power Grid That Can Withstand and Recover from Natural Disaster

Chicago — The State of Illinois Future City Competition will be held on Sat., Jan. 19 in Chicago. All sixth-eighth graders are encouraged to participate and register by October 31, 2018. This regional event is part of the 27th Annual International Competition where…

CHICAGO– American Public Works Administration (APWA) Chicago Metro Chapter shares its great experience at the Future City 2018 Illinois Competition. We appreciate your continued support – fifteen years strong. Great video! 

This year’s theme was The Age-Friendly City. Future City asked middle school students to respond to and address the challenges in designing innovative solutions that can serve an urban area’s older population. Students were tasked with identifying age-related issues in their city planning and engineering a framework that enables…

CHICAGO–The State of Illinois Future City Competition 2018 announced its Top Five team winners from its Jan. 20th regional competition held at UIC-Student Center East. This is their 26th regional competition which is affiliated with DiscoverE (STEM) and National Engineers Week which will be held February 18-24, 2018.

St. Paul of the Cross School received first place honors for its project titled “Happyville.” They presented many strong elements to support this year’s theme The Age-Friendly…

CHICAGO–The Future City Competition for the State of Illinois Competition will be held on Sat. Jan. 20, 2018 at the University of Illinois- Chicago Campus- Student Center East. This is the 26th annual international competition and the middle school students are asked to envision an urban environment that keeps growing community of older adults active, engaged and independent. The State of Illinois competition has competed every year since the inception of the STEM program.

The regional group competes in the national competition during the National Engineers…

Chicago – The State of Illinois Future City Competition is celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2016-17. This year’s Future City Competition asks middle school students to address The Power of Public Space and challenges them to design innovative, multiuse public spaces that serve a city’s diverse population. The regional competition will be held on Sat., Jan. 7, 2017 on the University of Illinois-Chicago campus. Mentors are needed for teams as they prepare for the competition.

Public spaces have…

Chicago—The State of Illinois  2016 National Future City® Competition generated ideas and excitement this year as expected at the University of Illinois at Chicago on Jan. 9, 2016.  The first place team, St. Clair Junior High, is preparing to compete in the 2016 Future City National Finals during February 12‐17, 2016 at the Capital Hilton in Washington DC.  The top five teams in the 2016 State of Illinois Regional Future City Competition are:  

Ranking        School Name                 Future City Project Name  
5th Place   Immaculate Conception       Pas De…