Students design cities of the future

Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2003 | 9:29 a.m.

Seventh and eighth graders from 25 Southern Nevada schools will gather Saturday at Sierra Vista High School for the Las Vegas Regional Competition of the National Engineers Week Future City Competition.

The event at 8100 Robindale Road will begin at 8:30 a.m. and feature 18 Las Vegas schools, four from Henderson, one from North Las Vegas school, one from Overton and one Sandy Valley school.

The competition will coincide with similar events throughout the United States, featuring 30,000 participants from more than 1,000 schools.

Last fall schools began the competition by designing three-dimensional models or computerized models of their conceptions of an ideal city. Students also write 100- to 200-word abstracts on their city and 300- to 500-word essays on resolving a specific engineering problem.

This year's essay theme is the promise and limitations of biotechnology in reducing pollution.

Students use knowledge, imagination and creativity to approach challenges facing today's cities, including global warming, security and overpopulation.

Each team -- composed of three students guided by a teacher and engineer mentor -- display and defend their designs to a panel of judges.

The Las Vegas competition is sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers and Clark County Public Works, with assistance from several engineering companies and agencies.

The program was started in 1992 by the National Engineers Week Committee, a consortium of more than 100 engineering societies and corporations, to raise awareness and appreciation of engineering among students.

The 31 regional champions will win trips to Washington, D.C., for the national finals, Feb. 16-22, during the National Engineers Week conference.

The members of the national championship team will receive a trip to Space Camp at Huntsville, Ala. The second-place team will receive a $2,000 grant for their school's technology program and third place is a $1,000 grant for the school's technology curriculum.

Local competing schools are: