2018 Theme – “The Age-Friendly City”
January 20, 2018
Dear Members,
The South Carolina Future City Competition is a great outreach event for teams of middle school students and their teachers and engineering mentors.
Teams build their vision of future cities under a particular theme and challenge set by the competition’s national organizers. Future City is one of the many initiatives of National Engineers Week by DiscoverE. DiscoverE is a coalition of more than 100 STEM organizations, including IEEE-USA.
The IEEE Columbia Section is once again supporting this outreach program and, as in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, will award the team with the “Best Distribution of Energy” and donate $750 to the event. To place this award, at least three Columbia Section judges are needed on the 4th Saturday of January, (typically) to select the winning middle-school team.
If you are interested in participating as a judge, please email r3-columbia@ieee.org or reply to this message by January 10, 2017. A packet containing judging rules, directions and schedule for the competition will be emailed to each judge. You can also find information regarding the Section’s past participation below.
| Role of the Judges | Information About the 2017 Competition |
| OPPORTUNITY: Three Judges for the South Carolina Regional Competition of Future City IEEE Columbia Section judges will review models of future cities created by 25-45 teams of middle school students and their teachers and engineering mentors. IEEE Columbia judges will determine the model city with the Best Distribution of Power and award the student team. Pictures will be taken.INFORMATION FOR JUDGES: – The competition is on Saturday, January 21st at the campus of USC-Aiken. – The competition is tentatively scheduled to begin about an hour earlier this year. Registration will most likely be between 8:30 and 9:00 AM. – The typical agenda for the day is as follows:Registration Judge’s Meeting (~ 30-45 min) Opening Ceremony (~30 min) Special Award Judging (4 hours) Final Round Judging (1 hour) Awards Ceremony (~45 min)- During the Special Award Judging (4 hours), the judges will be walking around and talking to each of the teams about their project. This can be a long and tiring process, and you will be on your feet for a lot of the time. A judge’s break room will be available and will be stocked with drinks and snacks. – Lunch will also be provided for all judges and volunteers. – Since the starting time is earlier this year, the Awards Ceremony will probably be around 4:00 PM. At lease one judge from your organization needs to be present at the Awards Ceremony to present the prizes to your winning team. A photo will also be taken that you can use in your organization’s newsletters/publications. |
South Carolina Regional Future City CompetitionSavannah River Nuclear Solutions in partnership with the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center are proud to be the sponsors of the 15th annual South Carolina Regional Future City Competition. Our goal is to help middle school students better understand the practical applications of math and scientific principles. The program fosters an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math through hands-on components and helps students better understand the practical applications of STEM principles. Since the program began, it has been recognized by the education and engineering communities as an innovative learning approach.The Future City Competition challenges students to design a city at least 100 years in the future and incorporate a solution to a citywide challenge that changes each year.
This year’s topic is “The Power of Public Space: Design a future city that includes a distributed network of innovative, multiuse public spaces that serves the city’s diverse population.” An overview of the topic can be found at the following address: http://futurecity.org/about-the-competition/competition-deliverables/city-description. The 2017 competition will be held at the University of South Carolina Aiken on January 21, 2017. Our first place regional team will travel to Washington DC during National Engineers Week to compete against the other regional teams. Our goal is to raise at least $7,500 in sponsorship for this year’s competition and provide at least fifteen Special Awards for the student teams. The support of professional societies and organizations like yours is what will make this competition a success! Please review the attached form and choose your level of sponsorship. These funds will help cover the costs of competition day as well as provide student awards. All sponsors will be recognized in the program distributed on competition day and media press releases. Thank you for your time and consideration of sponsorship to help us reward the students, teachers and engineering mentors that commit so much of their time and effort to this competition. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding ways your organization can get involved in the South Carolina Regional Future City Competition. I look forward to hearing back from you. Sincerely, Monica H. Phillips |
Competition 2016
Where: University of South Carolina Aiken
When: January 23, 2016
Theme: “Waste Not, Want Not: Design an innovative citywide solid waste management system for your future city that is safe, environmentally sound, and energy efficient.” An overview of the topic can be found at the following address: http://futurecity.org/about-the-competition/competition-deliverables/city-description.
The Future City awarded the “Best Distribution of Power” by the Columbia Judges was “Rock Star City” from Leavelle McCampbell Middle School in Graniteville, SC. (Front Row, left to right) The teacher was Margo Gore and the engineer mentor was Eugene White. They are pictured with their three aspiring engineers. (Back row, left to right) IEEE Columbia judges were Melissa Pearce (Schneider Electric), Michael Smith (Central Electric Power Cooperative), Jeffrey Wagner (SCANA), and Jeff Schwartz (Schneider Electric).
Watch the judges at work!
Winning Team 2015
Columbia Section Volunteer Judges Jeffrey Wagner, Richard Lawrence, and Ashok Vaseashta presented the
Best Distribution of Power Award ($750) under the theme “Feeding Future Cities.”
Pictured above are Jeffrey Wagner and the Kennedy Middle School Marinia Team
Melissa Kidd, Educator
LaDonna Armstrong, Mentor
Cameron Cook – Team Member, 7th Grade
Connor Sprinkle – Team Member, 8th Grade
Corey Glenn – Team Member, 8th Grade
Links to 2015 pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/114575355@N05/sets/72157648338291174/
Winning Team 2014
Columbia Section Volunteer Judges Jeffrey Wagner, Jacquelyn Cunningham, and Brent Baker presented the Best Distribution of Power Award ($750) under the theme “Tomorrow’s transportation: Moving people in and around our cities”.
Columbia Section’s “Best Distribution of Power” Special Award Recipient
Columbia Section judges selected the futuristic city Chromalopolis by Saint Mary on the Hill Catholic Middle School, Augusta, Georgia. Chromalopolis also won 3rd place in the overall competition. The judges were Jacquelyn Cunningham (Section Chair), Jeffrey Wagner (Member & SME), and Brent Baker (Section Secretary/Treasurer).
Saint Mary on the Hill Catholic Middle School
Additional 2014 Competition Results
Some 34 teams from 16 middle schools competed. Sixteen Special Awards were presented in addition to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place overall prizes. Among them were two Middle Schools in the Columbia Section’s geographic area:
- Felton Laboratory School, South Carolina State University (Orangeburg, SC), won the Student Choice Award and the Best Model Award for “Hydro-Stellar City”. Their awards were presented by Savannah River Site Leadership Association (SRSLA).
- W. A. Perry Middle School (Columbia, SC), won the Outstanding Project Management Award for “TEEER” City. Their award was presented by Savannah River Chapter of the Project Management Institute.