Bexley, Ohio Students Win Future City Competition
A city of the future – Novo Mondum – engineered by students from Bexley Middle School in Bexley, Ohio, has won the grand prize at the 2009 National Engineers Week Future City Competition™. Abby Sharp, 14, Wyatt Peery, 13, and Tom Krajnak, 14, teamed up with their teacher Peg Englehardt and volunteer mentor, Mark Sherman, an engineer with Franklin County Engineers, according to a Feb. 19 press release.
Teams from 38 middle schools nationwide, winners of regional competitions in January, participated in the Future City National Finals, Feb. 17-18 at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
The grand prize winners receive a trip to U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., provided by National Finals host Bentley Systems, Inc., a comprehensive software solutions provider for infrastructure. Bentley also is providing a 10-seat academic suite of engineering software for each school of the top three teams.
Second place went to St. Thomas More School in Baton Rouge, La., for its Future City, Esperyance. The team is comprised of students Maggie Talbot and Annie Talbot, both 13, and Tyler Bellue, 14, teacher Shirley Newman, and mentor Ricky Lee of SEMS, Inc. St. Thomas More School receives a $5,000 scholarship for its technology program, sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE).
St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School in South Miami, Fla., took third-place honors for its Future City Vai Verde. The team is comprised of Lauren Rodriguez 14, Susana Becerra, 14, and Nicole Fernandez-Valle, 12, teacher Susy Chu, and mentor Maria Fernandez-Porrata of Marlin Engineering Inc. St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School receives a $2,000 scholarship for that school’s technology program, sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), USA.
“Part of our responsibility as industry leaders lies in developing the talented and diverse workforce who will be designing the world’s infrastructure in the future,” says Bentley Systems Chief Executive Officer Greg Bentley. "The creativity, teamwork, and commitment of these young minds is a valuable and renewable resource, and Bentley is proud to do its part to develop this resource by opening the eyes of these middle school students to the rewarding possibilities of a career in engineering.”