Last year, ACEC reached out to our member firms, and they answered the call to provide 80 judges for the 2023 Future City Competition. With the help of all our volunteers, we were able to serve hundreds of future engineers across Arizona. The 2024 Future City Competition is upon us, and we are about 70 judges short, with only a few days left to register. The competition needs around 120-150 judges, depending on how many people volunteer for multiple stages.
For those who are unfamiliar with Future Cities, it is a competition for middle school-aged children where they imagine the future of our cities. How will they be powered? How will they move about? Water supply? Wastewater? Etc. They research, make models, and write reports describing how their City of the Future will work. The last task is to present their City to a panel of judges, and it is amazing to see these students' courage, talent, and determination during the presentations.
There are many ways you can volunteer as a judge. You can choose 1 stage or volunteer for all 3! Here is the link to register as a judge. Click on this link and select the “Judge” option –https://futurecity.org/register/
The time commitment for judging is described below.
There are three stages of competition deliverables, each with a different judging context.
Essays describing the team’s proposed solution(s) and their future city; 1500 words maximum. These will be judged remotely between Dec 16, 2023, and Jan 12, 2024, and require about 2-3 hours. (about 40 spots to fill)
City Model depicting a portion of the team’s future city. These will be displayed at the Burton Barr Library (downtown Phx) from Jan 13-18th and will be judged at that site. This should take about 2 hours. (about 30 spots to fill)
Team presentation and Q&A session (15 minutes/team) – A team of 4-5 judges will judge the 7-minute live presentation and 8 minutes of judges’ questions and team responses. This will occur on the morning of Jan 20, 2024, at Casteel High School in Queen Creek. Plan on being available from 8 am to about noon. (about 50 spots to fill)
A Judge Training (virtual) is tentatively scheduled for 7 pm on 12/14 if you are new or need a refresher.
Thank you so much for your investment in a future generation of engineers! Don't hesitate to contact Nicolai Oliden (Nicolai.oliden@jacobs.com) with any questions.