The Engineering Society of Detroit (ESD) united in support with the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) and the Detroit City Council will introduce the 2010-2011 Michigan Regional Future City Competition to all Detroit middle school students this year with the unprecedented challenge to build a new Detroit in the year 2150 and beyond.
Details about Future Detroit will be unveiled on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. at the Phoenix Academy in Detroit located at 7735 Lane Street, and will feature special remarks by Detroit City Council President, Charles Pugh, and Detroit School Board President, Anthony Adams, as well as other leaders from throughout the State of Michigan.
“Business and civic leaders throughout the state are rallying in support of Future Detroit. This initiative has created a strong buzz and the program is growing daily through interest from teachers, administrators and students, who are eager to express their vision of what Detroit could become in 100-plus years,” said Ron Smith, ESD’s Director of Education. “The youth we’re serving will be the first generation to enjoy immediate results of what we’re trying to do today.”
In its 16th year, the Michigan Future City is a nationwide competition that challenges 6th, 7th and 8th grade students to envision a city in the future in which they would like to live. Guided by their teachers and volunteer engineer mentors, students have three months to develop a computer model, write an essay, build a physical model using engineering and mathematical principles, and then present their creation to professional judges during a daylong competition that will be held this year on Monday, January 31, 2011.
The winning team from Michigan will go to Washington, DC in February to compete in the national Future City challenge against teams from across the country.
So far, more than 50 schools from throughout the State of Michigan will participate in this year’s competition. This includes 25 schools from the City of Detroit.
In the meantime, we are calling out to all engineers and technical professionals to volunteer a couple of hours of their time to be mentors for the teams in Detroit.
For more information about the Future Detroit launch event or to RSVP to attend this event, contact Della Cassia at 248-353-0735, ext. 112 or dcassia@esd.org
