2008 Future City Competition -Georgia Region
Competition Date: January 19, 2008
Location:
Southern Polytechnic State University
To help students
better understand the practical applications of mathematics and scientific
principles, the National Engineers Week Committee is sponsoring the sixteenth
annual
National Engineers Week Future City™ Competition.
MISSION
The mission of
the National Engineers Week Future City™
Competition is to provide a fun and exciting educational
engineering program for seventh- and eighth-grade students that combine a
stimulating engineering challenge with a “hands-on” application to present their
vision of a city of the future. This will be accomplished by:
●Fostering engineering skills, such as
teamwork, communication and problem solving;
●Providing interaction among students,
teachers,
●Informing the community about the
multi-disciplines within the engineering profession;
●Inspiring students to explore futuristic
concepts and careers in engineering.
IMPORTANCE
OF THE ENGINEER MENTOR
What is
engineering? Engineering is an art requiring the judgment necessary to adapt
knowledge to practical purposes; the imagination to conceive original solutions
to problems; and the ability to predict performance and cost of new devices or
processes. Middle school students are familiar with the roles of the scientist
from their science classes, but the Future City Competition may very well be the
student’s first contact with engineering.
IS IT
NECESSARY TO HAVE AN ENGINEER WORK WITH THE STUDENTS?
Yes. While
students will enjoy working with the computer software, the engineer brings
practical experience and advice on designing and building the city. We want
students to understand how technology impacts peoples’ lives.
HOW MUCH
TIME WILL THE ENGINEER MENTOR NEED TO SPEND ON THE PROJECT?
The engineer
should be available to provide advice and technical assistance to the students.
It is hoped that he or she will be available whenever the students work on the
project. If this is not possible, the teacher should be available to provide
advice and assistance. Typically, most engineers devote approximately 20-40
hours to the project over a three month period.
VISIT
http://www.futurecity.org/docs/2008_Engineer_Mentor_Manual.pdf
to see more
complete information on the Engineer Mentor role.
For more information or to
volunteer as a mentor, contact
Dawn Ramsey
Southern Polytechnic State
University
1100 South Marietta Parkway
Marietta, Georgia 30060
678/915-4287
dramsey@spsu.edu