March 25, 2008

Future Engineers Present Plans for Future City

The College of Engineering at NC State has always looked towards the future, and earlier this year the College got the chance to host a group of middle school students who may become the engineers of the future.

NC State’s Centennial Campus hosted the North Carolina Regional Future City Competition. The event featured ten middle schools from North Carolina and Virginia that were given the daunting task of solving many of the problems facing the cities of the future.

The students used Sim City 3000, the popular simulation game, to create a computer design for their city. They were also required to build a tabletop model using ordinary objects like cups, drinking straws and milk cartons. Students also had to write essays and give oral reports on their cities. The cities were judged on a variety of different criteria, including the use of energy, transportation systems, and sustainable design.

The winning metropolis was designed by students from Davidson International Baccalaureate Middle School in Davidson. The team won $1,000 and a week at the NC State engineering summer camp. They also secured a spot in the National Future City Competition in Washington, DC.

Dr. Louis Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering, was happy to see the excitement the students brought to the event.

“We really strive to make the ‘e’ in engineering mean excitement,” Martin-Vega told the Raleigh News & Observer. “This is a great example of that. You can see how turned on they are.”

The sponsors for the event included Shell Oil Company, Glaxo Smith Kline, Professional Engineers of North Carolina Education Foundation, Progress Energy, the American Society of Civil Engineers, ACEC NC, Earth Tech, Inc. and NC State University.

-daniel-

AWARD WINNERS

OVERALL

FIRST PLACE - Davidson IB Middle School, Davidson

SECOND PLACE - West Pine Middle School, West End

THIRD PLACE - Lumberton Junior High School, Lumberton

FOURTH PLACE - West Cary Middle School, Cary

OTHER AWARDS

BEST USE OF ENERGY - Northridge Middle School, Charlotte

BEST TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM - Calvary Christian School, Norfolk, Va.

BEST ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE DESIGN - A.L. Stanback Middle School, Hillsborough

BEST PHYSICAL MODEL - West Cary Middle School, Cary

BEST COMPUTER CITY DESIGN - West Cary Middle School, Cary

BEST ESSAY/ABSTRACT - Davidson IB Middle School, Davidson

BEST ORAL PRESENTATION - West Pine Middle School, West End

BEST USE OF BUILDING MATERIALS - Quail Hollow Middle School, Charlotte

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