Winners Earn Trip to Space Camp, Courtesy of Bentley Systems
WASHINGTON, February 21, 2012 – A city of the future- Hyperion – engineered by students from St. Mary Parish School in Hales Corners, Wisconsin, has won the grand prize today at the 2012 National Engineers Week Future City® Competition. The students – Thomas J. Chelius, 13, Emily M. Chmielewski, 13 and Caroline J. Mohr, 13, teamed up with their teacher, Sarah E. Massopust and volunteer mentor Robert James Chmielewski, an engineer with Pieper Electric in Milwaukee.
Teams from 37 middle schools nationwide, winners of regional competitions held this past January, participated in the Future City National Finals, which took place at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City, VA., during National Engineers Week, February 18-22, 2012.
The grand prize winners receive a trip to U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, provided by Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world. Bentley also is providing a 10-seat academic suite of engineering software for each school of the top three teams. Major funding for the national finals comes from Bentley and Shell Oil Company. Additional program funding comes from Atkins and the S.D. Bechtel,Jr. Foundation.
“This competition is so much work but it paid off in so many ways,” said Emily M. Chmielewski.
“Not only did we learn a lot about engineering, but we also now can see more clearly than ever how kids can really make a difference. We are the future.”
Second place went to the team the Northern California region. Hailing from Hart-Ransom School in Modesto, they were honored for their Future City, which they titled Aqua-Sol-Viente. The team is comprised of students Sabrina Esquivel,13, Riley Noland, 14 and Carolyn Ringer, 14. Their teacher is Sara Martin and their mentor is Des Orsinelli, an engineer with Brown and Caldwell of Walnut Creek. Hart-Ransom receives a $5,000 scholarship for its technology program, sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE).
“This experience makes us want to encourage everyone to be a part of Future City - we encourage students to get teachers involved and teachers to get mentors involved,” said Riley Noland. “The competition teaches way more than engineering. It also sharpens your literacy, speaking and presenting skills.”
Our Lady of Help Christians School from the Philadelphia region took third place honors for their Future City, Tecumseh. The team is comprised of students Joel Hediger, Meredith Moore and Rebecca Reilly, teacher Jane Ring and mentor Mike DiCamillo. Our Lady of Help Christians School receives a $2,000 scholarship for that school’s technology program, sponsored by IEEE-USA.
Honorable mentions went to Colorado’s Deer Creek Middle School (Fourth Place), led by students Jon Cleary, Nick Furgason and Sam Meyer, teacher Jacquie Adkins and mentor Dave Hoekstra. Oklahoma’s St. Philip Neri Catholic School (Fifth Place) was led by students Adrianna Limon, Morgan Montgomery, Sofia Figueroa, teacher Sue Hawkins and mentor John Alexin.
Sponsored by the nation’s professional engineering community, Future City, one of the nation’s largest engineering education programs and among the most popular, aims to stir interest in science, technology, engineering and math among young people.
Students work in teams under the guidance of a teacher and a volunteer engineer mentor to design and build a city of tomorrow. This year’s theme, Fuel Your Future: Imagine New Ways To Meet Our Energy Needs and Maintain a Healthy Planet asks students to design a method of providing electricity for a future city using an energy source that does not deplete natural resources and has limited impact on the environment. Students also design virtual cities using SimCity™ 4 Deluxe software and then build three-dimensional, tabletop models to scale. To ensure a level playing field, models must use recycled materials and can cost no more than $100 to build. Students also write brief narratives describing their city and must present and defend their designs at the competition before a panel of engineer judges who test the depth of the teams’ knowledge.
Judges for this year’s Future City Competition National Finals included:
• Dr. Regina Dugan, Director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
Dr. Dugan is an expert in counterterrorism and explosive threats. She is the first female director of DARPA, a position she has held since 2009. Dr. Dugan holds a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology and her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Virginia Tech.
• Dr. Dennis Irwin, Dean, Russ College of Engineering and Technology, Ohio University
Dr. Irwin has served in his current position since July 2002. A registered professional engineer in Ohio, Irwin serves on the nomination committee for the National Academy of Engineering’s Russ Prize, the world’s highest honor in bioengineering. Dr. Irwin received his Ph.D., M.S., and B.S., all in electrical engineering, from Mississippi State University.
• Victoria A. Rockwell, President, ASME Chair, Engineers Week 2012
Rockwell is president of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers). She is also director of Investment Development Process for Houston-based Air Liquide USA, LLC. She has been a fellow of ASME and active member for 31 years and has held numerous leadership positions.
• DeeAnn Turpin, 2011 New Faces of Engineering, College Edition Winner, Kansas State University
Turpin is a 4th year Biological Systems Engineering student at KSU. Since her freshman year she has been the project manager for Engineers Without Borders and has traveled to India (2009), Guatemala (2011), and Ecuador (2012), to work on water based projects.
• Brian Vastag, Science Reporter, The Washington Post
Vastag covers general science, the environment, climate change, and space. He covered the 2011 Japanese earthquake and the subsequent meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant; parrot conservation efforts in Qatar; and the final launch of the space shuttle. Vastag makes numerous television and radio appearances, commenting on science related issues.
In addition to the winning teams, 24 Special Awards, sponsored by numerous engineering societies and organizations, were also presented.
About Future City Competition
The Annual National Engineers Week Foundation’s Future City Competition, for sixth, seventh and eighth grade students, is held from September, 2011 through February, 2012. The Future City Competition is a program of National Engineers Week Foundation (NEWF), a consortium of professional and technical societies and major U.S. corporations.
For more information on the Future City Competition, visit www.futurecity.org.
About National Engineers Week Foundation The National Engineers Week Foundation works year-round to sustain and grow a dynamic engineering profession critical to public health, safety, and welfare. The Foundation supports engineering outreach, education, and celebration through a network of thousands of volunteers in its partner coalition of more than 100 professional societies, major corporations and government agencies. Together we meet a vital need: introducing students, parents, and educators to engineering, engaging them in hands-on engineering experiences, and making science and math relevant. The Foundation and coalition are actively putting the E in STEM.