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IEEE Schenectady Section Presents Award at 2004
Future Cities Competition
by Peter Sutherland, Student Activities Chair
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The third annual Capital District Future
Cities competition was held in the McNeil Room of the RPI student
union on January 10, 2004. Twelve middle school teams from area
schools competed for an all-expenses-paid trip to the National
Future Cities Competition in Washington, D.C. during National
Engineer's week. A number of other cash prizes and awards were
provided by area businesses and professional groups. The IEEE
Schenectady Section sponsored an Award for Excellence in
Generation and Conservation of Electrical Energy. The award
included a check for $100. In addition the Section gave general
support of $100 to the competition. Upon entering the competition each team receives a copy of Sim City software with which to design their city. When the design is finished, they must create a table top model, a poster and a group presentation to represent their city during the competition. Cost of the project must be under $100, and recycled materials should be used in its construction. This year's project project theme is the use of plastics to aid senior citizens in the future. |
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| The Maple Hill Middle School team, their
teacher Mr. Kenneth M. Malloy and engineering mentor George E.
Walling, Jr. are shown with the model city "Albany." Student Activities Chair Peter Sutherland and
volunteer Saber Azizi attended the competition to review the
projects, interview teams and make the tough choice of who would
receive the IEEE award. The winner of the IEEE award was the team
from Maple Hill Middle School in Castleton-on-Hudson with a city
named "Albany". The team had used hydro power from the
Hudson River for their electrical generation source in addition to
solar, wind and fuel
cells for a balanced energy mix.
The run of the river hydro plant featured a level of the
city which rotated on a vertical shaft, turned by paddles
extending out into the river current.
The most novel use for electricity was the hydraulic
elevator system in the underground portion of the city. Maple Hill
was also the overall winner of the competition. The Schenectady Section will continue its support for the 2005 Competition. Activity will begin in August and September of 2004 when mentors and volunteers will be recruited. Mentors meet with the teams, typically for 3 to 4 sessions of about 3 hours, and provide an engineering perspective and advice. Volunteers assist in the planning, and "day of" activities. IEEE volunteers participate in interviewing the teams to determine the recipient of the IEEE Award. Models from the Future City Competition will be on display at
Engineer's Week to be held Thursday, February 19, 8:00 AM through
5:00 PM at the Albany Marriott on Wolf Road. |
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The Award for Excellence in Generation and Conservation of Electrical Energy is presented to the Maple Hill Middle School team by Peter Sutherland, Student Activcities Chair. Saber Azizi (not shown) assisted in judging. For further information and additional photos, please visit the local competition web site http://www.geocities.com/fcalbany/Comp2004/Competition2004.html and the national website http://www.futurecity.org See http://www.eweek.org for information on Engineers Week. |
