Monday, January 27, 2020, Cedar Rapids, IA – 40 teams of middle school students from across Iowa presented their solutions to provide cities with a clean, sustainable water supply at the Future City Iowa Regional Competition at Prairie Point Middle School on Saturday, January 25.
“Our goal at NewBoCo is to give students access to innovative and engaging STEM education,” NewBoCo K-12 Education Director & Future City Iowa Regional Co-Coordinator Samantha Dahlby said. “Future City is a fantastic program because it helps students learn how to take an active part in solving the many problems facing our state using their STEM skills.”
This year’s clean water theme helped students learn about the complicated infrastructure that brings clean water to their homes every day. Through their research, students learned how to improve the reliability and quality of their future city’s water supply.
The Potamoi team from Harding Middle School won first place at the Future City Iowa Regional Competition. Hydropolis from Waukee Schools, Jamila from McKinley STEAM Academy, Badilisha from Taft Middle School, and Magnolia from Keota Community Schools) took second through fifth place. Andrew Belz, Caleb Ralston, Jake Ervin from the Potamoi team will receive an all-expense-paid trip to compete in the Future City Competition National Finals in Washington, D.C., in February.
Future City Iowa wouldn’t be possible without our many volunteers and the support of our major sponsors: Collins Aerospace, Workiva, Verizon, Integrated DNA Technologies, Alliant Energy, NextEra Energy, and the Kum & Go Foundation. We’d also like to thank our special awards sponsors: the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, the Society of Women Engineers – East Central Iowa, Terracon Consultants Inc., City of Cedar Rapids Utilities Department, The Curiosity Path, American Society for Quality Section 1303, Iowa Floodplain and Stormwater Management Association, MMS Consultants, and the ASCE Eastern Iowa Young Member Group.
Future City 2020 from NewBoCo on Vimeo.
About NewBoCo K-12 Education
NewBoCo K-12 Education programs focus on encouraging creativity, fostering entrepreneurship, helping kids learn how to code, and promoting computer science.
About Future City Iowa
NewBoCo is the statewide coordinator for Future City, a national, project-based STEM learning program where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades imagine, research, design, and build cities of the future.