Members of the winning team, back row from left: Nick Wilbur, Stephen Dunn, Luke Churchill, Hanson Wang; front from left, Thomas Churchill, Emily Yue, Thomas Thornton, Ruth Swallow.

Updated Sunday, 6:09 p.m.
RALEIGH – Davidson I.B. Middle School’s eighth grade team bested a dozen other teams Saturday to win the North Carolina Region championship in the 2010 Future City Competition, held at the N.C. State University’s Talley Student Center. It was the third straight year the school won the event, which is organized by professional engineers as part of National Engineers Week.

Davidson I.B. also had a second team, comprised of seventh graders. Together, the 2 teams also won 3 out of the four special awards at day’s end. The eighth grade team won for best essay and best computer city design. The seventh grade team won for best oral presentation.

Davidson I.B.’s Future City teams are coached again this year by teacher Jay Hager. They had a professional engineer mentor, Dane Horna of S&ME Inc.

Watch a video report of the 2010 Future City competiton on DavidsonNews.net, CLICK HERE>

With the overall victory, the eighth grade team won $1,000 and a trip to the national finals in Washington, D.C., during National Engineers Week. Team members also will be invited to a summer camp at N.C. state.

The winning entry depicted a future city called Mamohatra, in Madagascar. The city featured alternative energy (a mag-lev wind turbine, solar energy, and hydro power among other things), hydroponic agriculture and low-cost refugee housing built of agricultural byproducts.

The Future City Competition requires middle-school teams to design a future city using math, engineering, ecology and economics. More than 33,000 students from 1,100 middle schools nationwide are participating this year.

This year’s teams also had to write an essay on “Providing an Affordable Living Space for People Who Have Lost Their Home Due to a Disaster or Financial Emergency.” The teams build their cities on the computer, using a computer program called “Sim City.” They also create a physical model using materials costing less than $100.

David Simpson

“We expose the seventh and eighth grade middle school students to engineering and we do that through hands-on, real-world applications as we talk to them about what we do in engineering,” said David Simpson, Future Cities regional coordinator and a professional engineer with Simpson Engineers & Associates. Chris Kreider of the North Carolina DOT is the other co-coordinator.

At Saturday’s competition in Raleigh, teams presented and answered questions about their cities.

The grand prize at the Washington national finals is a trip to Space Camp in Alabama.

Davidson IB 7th grade team, from left: Bryanna Fagel, Emma Boraks, Ian Magee (back), Jack Carmichael, Nick Macri, Brandon Lang, Sharad Wertheimer, Kirstie Eaton.

Members of Davidson I.B.’s winning eighth grade team, coached by Mr. Hager, are: Emily Yue, Nick Wilber, Stephen Dunn, Luke Churchill, Thomas Churchill, Hanson Wang, Ruth Swallow, Thomas Thornton, Edward Wu.

Members of Davidson I.B’s seventh grade team are: Sharad Wertheimer, Nick Macri, Ian Magee, Jack Carmichael, Emma Boraks, Bryanna Fagel, Brandon Lang, Kirstie Eaton, Anika Agarwal.

AWARDS LIST

1st place: Davidson I.B. Middle School, eighth grade team, Davidson.
2nd place school: West Pine Middle School, West End, NC
Third place school: Lumberton Junior High, Lumberton, NC
Fourth place school: Ligon GT Magnet Middle School, Raleigh, NC

Specialty Award Winners include:
Best Transportation System: West Pine Middle School “Grundstadt”
Best Use of Energy: West Pine Middle School “Luogo”
Best Use of Building Materials: Ligon GT Magnet Middle School
Best Use of Water Resources: Northridge Middle School
Best Model—People’s Choice: Lumberton Junior High
Best Computer City Design: Davidson IB Middle School “Mamohatra”
Best Essay: Davidson IB Middle School “Mamohatra”
Best Oral Presentation: Davidson IB Middle School “Tokaiao”

RELATED COVERAGE & LINKS

Jan. 12, 2009, “IB team wins future cities competition.”

Future City website, www.futurecity.org

CORRECTION
The original version of this article said Davidson had won its second straight NC title. In fact, this was the school’s third straight win at the NC Future City competition.

Davidson IB Middle's winning Future City team accepts the award. (David Boraks photo)