Students to Represent Ohio at Next Week’s D.C. Event

21 TEAMS COMPETE IN BUILDING “FUTURE CITY,”
REIGNING NATIONAL CHAMPS FROM HERITAGE MIDDLE SCHOOL, WESTERVILLE, WIN TRIP TO WASHINGTON, D.C.

WESTERVILLE, OHIO - Teams from 21 Ohio middle schools built cities of the future for the 2011 National Engineers Week Future City Competition™—Ohio Region, held January 15, 2011 at COSI Columbus. More than 33,000 students in 1,000 schools in 35 regions nationwide participated this year. The Ohio Region competition is made possible in part by The Battelle Memorial Institute and The Ford Motor Company.

Five schools were awarded medals in the competition in addition to 15 special awards. Students from Heritage Middle School in Westerville, located in northern Franklin County, took top honors. As Ohio’s first place team, they will travel to Washington, D.C. to represent the Ohio Region at the national finals, February 18-22, during National Engineers Week.

The three seventh- and eighth-grade students from Heritage Middle School, along with their teacher and an engineer mentor designed the future city, Sa’ga. Ohio teams have won the national competition twice in the past three years.

The competition gives sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders the chance to build a city of the future using SimCity 4 Deluxe™ software, donated by Electronic Arts Inc., illustrating futuristic ideas and components. Each team built a 3-D model of the city it created and wrote an abstract description of its city.

In addition to designing a city of the future, students must conduct research for an essay on a pressing social need. The 2011 Future City essay asked students to provide medical care and support for either the elderly or residents suffering from chronic disease. Essays must address how engineering can improve the health and welfare of the team’s Future City citizens. Engineers judged the teams on their oral presentation of the city, computer design and map, model, essay and abstract.

This year, two rookie teams placed in the top five; the first time in Future City – Ohio Region history. The top five winning schools are as follows:

* First Place – Heritage Middle School, Westerville
* Second Place – St. Vincent de Paul, Mt. Vernon
* Third Place – Immaculate Conception Academy, Cincinnati
* Fourth Place – North Union Middle School, Richwood
* Fifth Place – St. Ambrose, Brunswick

Special award winners are as follows:

- Best Architectural Model—American Institute of Architects Columbus Chapter
• First Place – Lakewood Middle School, Hebron
• Honorable Mention - Genoa Middle School, Westerville

- Best Computer City Design—M•E Companies
• First Place – Batavia Middle School, Batavia
• Honorable Mention – Ridgedale Junior High School, Morral

- Best Essay—Society of Marketing Professionals, Cincinnati Chapter
• First Place – Anna Local Schools, Anna
• Honorable Mention – Ridgedale Junior High School, Morral

- Best Infrastructure—American Society of Civil Engineers
• First Place – Batavia Middle School, Batavia
• Honorable Mention – Ridgedale Junior High School, Morral

- Best Moving Part—Worthington AM Rotary Club
• First Place – Immaculate Conception Academy, Cincinnati
• Honorable Mention – Lakewood Middle School, Hebron

- Best Use of Ceramics—Allied Mineral Products
• First Place – St. Ambrose, Brunswick
• Honorable Mention – Dayton Islamic School, Dayton

- Best Use of Energy—Ohio Department of Development, Office of Energy Efficiency
• First Place – Genoa Middle School, Westerville
• Honorable Mention – Batavia Middle School, Batavia

- Best Use of Recreation—Worthington AM Rotary Club
• First Place – Heritage Middle School, Westerville
• Honorable Mention – Batavia Middle School, Batavia

- Best Use of Recycled Materials—Hull & Associates, Inc.
• First Place – Heritage Middle School, Westerville
• Honorable Mention – Genoa Middle School, Westerville

- Best Use of Transportation—Ford Motor Company Fund
• First Place – Ridgedale Junior High School, Morral
• Honorable Mention – Morton Middle School, Vandalia

- Best Use of Water Resources Engineering—Sam Chebaro Memorial- Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Environmental Education
• First Place – Heritage Middle School, Westerville
• Honorable Mention – Batavia Middle School, Batavia

- Most Economic Project—
• First Place –Batavia Middle School, Batavia
• Honorable Mention – Heritage Middle School, Westerville

- Most Environmentally Friendly—Stantec Consulting Services, Inc.
• First Place – Ridgedale Junior High School, Morral
• Honorable Mention – Batavia Middle School, Batavia

- Rookie of the Year—Collector Wells, International
• First Place – Riverside Local Schools, Painesville
• Honorable Mention - Monroe Middle School, Columbus

- People’s Choice—Battelle Memorial Institute
• First Place – North Union Middle School, Richmond
• Honorable Mention – Heritage Middle School, Westerville

Good Luck Everyone!