News Release

Note: Participants will be registering at 7:30 a.m. but the competition doesn't begin until 9 a.m. The competition requirement that "future cities" be developed to the year 2150 has been dropped.


MEDIA ADVISORY/January 5, 2009

Media Advisory

What: Regional Future City Competition
When: 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (with best photo/video/interview opportunities from 9 a.m.-noon) Saturday, Jan. 10
Where: Student Union Jordan Ballroom, Boise State University

Boise State University is hosting Idaho’s fifth annual regional competition of the National Engineers Week Future City Competition from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10. Based on the theme of sustainability, seventh- and eighth-grade students from Salt Lake City and 10 cities throughout Idaho worked from August to January on this innovative educational challenge meant to help them discover and foster interests in math, science and engineering.

Using SimCity4 Deluxe software, each student team worked with an engineering mentor to create a “future city” while taking into account real-world issues such as energy needs, congestion and pollution. Each team also used mostly recycled materials to make a scale model of a segment of its city before preparing a 500-word essay on the process of designing self-sufficient residential systems that conserve, recycle and reuse existing water sources.

The U.S. Green Building Council will staff an educational table during the competition with the aim of inspiring the engineers of tomorrow to think sustainably. The main event at 1:30 p.m. will feature the top five teams from the morning competition presenting their projects to a panel of judges, including Boise State’s distinguished educator in residence, Barbara Morgan. Idaho’s regional winners will earn a spot at the national Future City Competition in Washington, D.C., in February.

Idaho’s regional Future City Competition is a non-profit event organized primarily by engineer volunteers and funded by individual and corporate contributions and support from professional societies. Major sponsors include URS Washington Division, Power Engineers, J-U-B Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, Idaho Society of Professional Engineers, and the colleges of engineering at Boise State University, Idaho State University and the University of Idaho.

For a full schedule and more information about the Idaho competition, visit www.futurecityidaho.org. For more about the national competition, visit www.futurecity.org.

To coordinate event coverage, contact Bill Holder at 573-3327 or wholder@stratageotech.com. For more information, contact Erin Ryan, communications specialist, at (208) 426-4910 or erinryan@boisestate.edu. 

Boise State University is “The New U Rising” with record student enrollment, new academic buildings, additional degree programs and a growing research agenda. Learn more at www.boisestate.edu. 

 

The Office of Communications and Marketing - Boise State University
1910 University Drive - Boise Idaho 83725-1030
Located in Capitol Village, 2225 W. University Drive
email communications@boisestate.edu

Last reviewed on Monday, January 05, 2009