Texas trio's urban agenda: student team honored for 2008 Future City Competition entry.

In the year 2311, the city of Varvara will be the world leader in technological innovation to improve the overall quality of life for its citizens. The city's use of nanotechnology will protect infrastructure, ensure clean drinking water sources, and maintain a planted green environment. Varvara will also house universities and baccalaureate high schools, making it the epicenter of the global scientific community.

But this imaginary future is only a fascinating idea from some young dreamers from Dallas. Three students from The Westwood School won the IIE Award for Excellence in Systems Integration, presented in February at the 2008 Future City Competition in Washington, D.C., as part of the annual National Engineers Week celebration. Team members included Heather Olney, Dayton Blankenship, and Sarah Thorne, as well as Westwood teacher Sarah McClelland.

In its 16th year, the NEW Future City Competition brings together engineers of today and tomorrow in a contest designed to energize young minds about the field of engineering. According to the NEW Foundation, around 30,000 seventh- and eighth-graders from more than 1,111 schools nationwide participated in 2008.

The student teams first competed in their regions in January for an opportunity to share their vision of a sustainable city of the future. Working in teams with a teacher and a volunteer engineer mentor, students created a model of their "future city" first on a computer using the popular SimCity 3000 software, and then as a scale model using recyclable materials with a budget of less than $100.

Winning teams from each region received an all-expense-paid trip to the finals, which took place Feb. 18-20 during National Engineers Week. The national champions received a trip to U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala. Second- and third-place teams were awarded scholarships for their school's technology programs.

The NEW Future City Competition is sponsored in part by the National Engineers Week Foundation, a formal coalition of professional and technical societies and major corporations across the United States dedicated to engineering. The Institute of Industrial Engineers serves on the committee for National Engineers Week.

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