Registration for the 2024-25 Future City Wisconsin Regional Competition is now open!

Saturday, January 18, 2025
MSOE Kern Center
1245 N Broadway in Milwaukee, WI

Learn More About the Future City Competition

The Future City Competition is a project-based learning activity introducing middle school students to project management and the Engineering Design Process.

Future City starts with a question – How can we make the world a better place? To answer it, middle school students imagine, research, design, and build cities of the future that showcase their solution to a citywide sustainability issue.

Students research, plan, and build a city that exists 100 years in the future while assessing risk and meeting a schedule. Through the deliverables of the project, students will:

  • Apply math and science concepts to real-world issues.

  • Develop writing, public speaking, problem-solving, teamwork, project management, and time management skills.

  • Learn how their community functions to improve citizenship.

  • Build a scale model using recycled materials.

  • Research and design solutions to engineering challenges.

  • Present and defend their design to a panel of technical judges.

Why participate? This cross-curricular educational program allows students to do what engineers do—identify problems, learn the specs and brainstorm solutions, design solutions, build, test, and retest, and share their results. This process is called the Engineering Design Process. With the Engineering Design Process and project management at its center, Future City is an engaging way to build students’ 21st-century skills while they apply math and science concepts to real-world problems. Future City meets the following Academic Standards Compliance:

  • Common Core Standards: Science and Technical Literacy

  • Common Core: ELA

  • Common Core: Mathematics

  • Next Generation Science Standards

  • Benchmarks for Science Literacy

  • Principles and Standards for School Mathematics

Who is eligible? Teams can be three students up to an entire class of 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade students. The official competing team for presentation and Q&A is limited to three students.

What are the elements? Students with their team members will complete five deliverables:

  • 1,500-word city essay

  • Scale model (or multiple model segments) built from recycled materials

  • Project Plan

  • City Presentation

  • Q&A session with judges

Is there a theme? Yes, the theme is “Above the Current.” Students will design a floating city and provide two innovative examples on how your floating city works and keeps its citizens healthy and safe.

When do we compete? The Regional Competition will be on Saturday, January 18, 2025. Future City Finals in Washington, D.C. from February 15-19, 2025. Future City provides round-trip transportation and hotel accommodations for the team’s three student presenters, educators, and mentors.

What is the cost? We have waived the registration fee, so it is free to register for the regional competition! The registration deadline closed on October 31, 2024!

Can I volunteer? Yes, we need over 125 professionals to bring this program to life. Registration for mentors, judges and volunteers is open now at https://futurecity.org/register/. We will pair mentors and educators at the start of the school year, so please reach out for more information about any volunteer opportunities.

How can I learn more? Connect with Theresa Wolf, Future City Program Manager, at twolf@stemforward.org to learn more.

Thank you to all of our Future City Sponsors!

Also, thank you to all our Special Award Sponsors!

We cannot offer this amazing program without your support. If you are interested in sponsoring the 2024-25 Future City Competition, please reach out to Rich Merkel at rmerkel@stemforward.org or Theresa Wolf at twolf@stemforward.org.

Future City Regional Competition 2023-24

Watch videos from the 1st and 2nd Place Teams to hear about their experience directly from the students!

STEM Forward, Inc. extends a special thank you to the Regional Future City Steering Committee:

Eric Tabaska, Badger Meter

James Formea, Eaton

Jason Rowell, Astronautics

Joe Lucchesi, Butters Fetting (Retired)

Nick Seidler, MSOE

Sara Feuling, AEM

Susan Coyle, MMSD

Thank you also to the STEM Forward Board of Directors for their endorsement and support of this program.