KU News Release

Area middle school students to compete in KU engineering Future City regional event

LAWRENCE – The University of Kansas School of Engineering will play host to the fifth annual Great Plains Regional Future City Competition.

Hundreds of seventh- and eight-graders representing schools from Kansas and the Kansas City metropolitan area will descend Saturday, Jan. 26, on the Kansas Memorial Union for a competition that tests their engineering and creative skills as they design and build model cities. KU is one of 40 regional competition sites around the country.

“The Future City Competition introduces students to engineering and engineering-related fields when they are taking the first steps towards their future career path,” said regional coordinator C.W. Harper. “The competition also promotes creative thinking, organization, and teamwork skills that will benefit them in any future they choose.” Nationwide, more than 30,000 students and 1,100 schools take part in the competition, which is sponsored by Engineers Week, a consortium of more than 125 engineering societies and corporations.

Robb Sorem, associate dean for undergraduate studies in the KU School of Engineering, agreed the event is a terrific opportunity for middle school students.

“The Future City Competition is a great way to let students delve into engineering and experience firsthand the creativity that goes into the field. They get to see at a young age just how rewarding and fun it can be,” Sorem said.

This year, students were asked to address the topic “Keeping Our City Infrastructure Healthy: Using Nanotechnology to Monitor City Structures and Systems.” Students must imagine and incorporate into their models devices that operate at the molecular level and are capable of monitoring infrastructure and resolving problems with little human intervention.

Students attack the competition in a series of phases over several months. The first phase requires each team to use SimCity 3000 software to design a computer model of their project. Next, team members build a physical model of their city using recycled materials. The models can be no larger than 25-inches wide, 50-inches long and 20-inches high.

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The writing and collaboration skills of each team are put to the test in the third phase. Students write an essay of 300 to 500 words. In addition, they must pen a 100- to 200-word abstract describing their city and some of its attributes.

The final phase of the regional competition takes place Saturday where the teams must present their physical models and deliver five- to seven-minute oral presentations to a panel of judges.

“These projects are amazingly creative and well crafted. People of all ages can appreciate the work and gain inspiration from them,” said Harper, an engineer with Paramics Online.

The public is invited to view the models in between presentations as well as watch the final round of judging of the top five teams.

The competition begins at 8:30 a.m. Models will be on display in the Union Ballroom. The final round of judging begins around 1 p.m. in Woodruff Auditorium. Presentation of awards and the announcement of the regional winning team will begin immediately after the final round of presentations. The Kansas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers, Black & Veatch, HNTB, George Butler Associates, Parsons Brinckerhoff, KH Engineering Group, and AgriTax Solutions Inc. are sponsors of the regional contest.

Members of the winning team receive a trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the national finals, February 16 to 20. The top team at the national competition wins a trip to Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala.

For more information about this year’s event or to find out about participating in next year’s competition, contact C.W. Harper at clarence.harper@paramics-online.com. Information about the national competition is also available at www.futurecity.org.

Participating schools are listed below with the teachers, the number of students planning to attend from that school and the names of the teams (if available):
• Concordia: Concordia Jr/Sr High School, Melissa Stiles, nine students: team: Jacksville
• Garnett: Anderson County Jr/Sr High, Mary Schneiders, 22 students
• Hutchinson: Reno Valley Middle School, Heather Sazama, three students: team: Kinko Shigai
• Lawrence: West Junior High, Pamela Simpson, eight students: teams: Arethusa and Sol Civitas
• Leawood: Leawood Middle School, Tish Varraveto, 14 students, team: Abzavidy City
• Leawood: Prairie Star Middle School, Peggy Harrington, six students, teams: Bionov and Phospolis
• Manhattan: Susan B. Anthony Middle School, Charma Craven, 11 students
• Oberlin: Decatur Community Jr/Sr High, Luanne Lee, four student, team: Atlantia
• Olathe: California Trail Junior High School Sandra Baze 1 Antillica
• Olathe: St. Paul Catholic School, Caroline Ong, 23 students
• Osborne: Osborne JrSr High, Leigh Johnson, three students
• Overland Park: Antioch Middle School Cassie Shonfelt, 21 students, teams: Geoverde, Kilmastad and Sanctuaryo ni Paraiso
• Overland Park: Overland Trail Middle School, Paula Nordstrom, eight students
• Overland Park: Pleasant Ridge Middle School Martha MacFarland 12 Civitas Prospertias, Embarq, Gorm, Kikipolonia, Oak Grove
• Overland Park: Westridge Middle School, Vonda Morris, 55 students, teams: Bella Viscus, Greensburg, Komala, O Ponto do Triangulo, Orgullo, Ostad, Paraiso, Rio Cidade, and Shan Cheng
• Overland Park: Indian Woods Middle School, Nancy Watanabe, 38 students, teams: Bella Citta, Skyway and Vita-Torre
• Overland Park: Trailridge Middle School, Virginia Hammes, 34 students, teams: City of the Hour, la ville de couches, Divium Urbis (Mieroksheim City), Quantam and Sauburg
• Prairie Village ,Indian Hills Middle School, Rachel Smalley, 32 students
• Shawnee: Hocker Grove Middle School, Pam Chandler, 28 students, teams: Heinsburg, Urbisprosanctamonia and Ville de Beauty
• Stilwell: Blue Valley Middle School, Athena Sullivan, 70 students, team: Valley Hill
• Wichita: Pleasant Valley Middle School, Brenda Hauff, 20 students, team Happy Town
• Wichita: St. Joseph Catholic School, Dan McAdam, 15 students, team Lavinta
• Kansas City, Mo.: Raytown Middle School, Vicki Ukleya, 13 students, teams: Crimson, Exemientopolis, Kansas City, Macutopia, Mouseton, Raytown, Tinsel Town and Voracity

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