Alabama A&M University will host the 25th anniversary edition of the Future City Competition on January 24, marking the first time the statewide event is being held on its campus. The competition, organized by Alabama A&M and AAMUteach in the College of Education, Humanities, and Behavioral Sciences, will take place at the T.M. Elmore Gymnasium and Health Sciences Complex from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Candy McGuire, clinical supervisor and instructor for the AAMUteach STEM Program as well as regional coordinator for the Alabama Future City Competition, commented on the significance of hosting this event. “We are excited to welcome Alabama’s best and brightest students to the Hill to showcase their innovation, creativity, teamwork and dedication toward success in STEM education,” McGuire said.
About 30 teams made up of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students from across Alabama are expected to participate. They will present large-scale tabletop city models designed around this year’s theme: Farm to Table. The challenge asks students to create a city that eliminates food waste throughout production and consumption while maintaining health and safety for residents.
The Future City program is a nonprofit educational initiative by DiscoverE that encourages middle school students to apply math, science, and engineering concepts to real-world issues. Teams spend several months developing their city plans, writing essays, creating project plans, and constructing models using recycled materials with a budget limit of $100.
The event schedule includes registration at 7:30 a.m., preliminary judging rounds from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., lunch at noon, finalist announcements at 1:45 p.m., final presentations between 2:00 p.m. and 2:50 p.m., a keynote address at 3:00 p.m., and an awards ceremony starting at 4:00 p.m.
Students will present their designs before judges who are educators, engineers, or industry professionals. Essays and project plans have already been reviewed prior to competition day. The winning team will be announced during the awards ceremony; they will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to compete in the national finals in Washington D.C., where additional honors such as a potential visit to Space Camp at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center are available.
Support for this year’s Alabama regional competition comes from university faculty members as well as organizations including IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), Huntsville Association of Technical Societies, Bentley Systems, JRC Inc., alongside AAMUteach STEM programs.
This year marks not only an anniversary but also establishes Alabama A&M University as the permanent host site for future editions of the Alabama Regional Future City Competition.
