INSIDE: - ESD

ESD Event ProfileFuture City Teams Return to School,Anticipate 2010 CompetitionIn January 2008 the Michigan Regional Future CityCompetition was introduced to a new team from DearbornHeights Montessori Middle School. The team capturedthree special awards, including Best Rookie Team, BestUse of Green Materials, and Most Use of Alternative orRenewable Fuels. After another successful showing in2009, the school looks forward to the coming year’s FutureCity Competition in a way other schools may not.At the Montessori school, Ann DeVore instructs 30seventh and eighth grade students throughout the dayon all subject areas. She reports that of the 30 studentsin her program, 10 are actively involved in Future City.At Dearborn Heights Montessori, Future City is quitepopular. “The whole school knows about it,” Ms. DeVoresaid. “It is the thing to do.”Ms. DeVore has led the Dearborn Heights Montessoriteam to two straight successful years at the Future CityCompetition, mainly thanks to the unique system herstudents have established. “There is always someonewho has done Future City before,” Ms. DeVore said. “8thgraders on the team mentor 7th graders.” In addition,students have been grouped by ability in English, math,and science. This setup gives the school specialized teamsthat can work on specific components.The Montessori school’s success does not come withoutthe real-world advice and help from the team’s engineermentor,Joan Gauthier. Ms. Gauthier joined the teamfor the 2009 competition, bringing with her experienceas a project manager at Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment,Inc. (OH&M). “Future City gives students real hands-onexperience with construction and modeling,” Ms. Gauthiernoted. “The engineer brings reality.”CONTINUED YEARS OF SUCCESSThe Future City Competition is now in its 18th year. TheEngineering Society of Detroit (ESD) has sponsored theMichigan Regional Competition for 15 of these 18 years.Each year, between 45 and 55 schools from throughoutMichigan compete, making the Michigan Region acontender for the largest in the United States.Preparation for the Michigan Regional Future CityCompetition can begin as early as the first weeks ofthe school year. This year, Ms. DeVore has developedan elective course built around the five- to six-monthprocess of developing, modeling, and presenting theproject. “The program gives students experience in notonly science and math, but also the process of planningand re-planning,” Ms. DeVore said. “Social benefits arepresent too; the students have to work together.”Last year’s Dearborn Heights Montessori Middle School Future City team.Ms. Gauthier is all too familiar with the extensiveplanning that can go into a major civil project. At OH&M,months of abstract writing, modeling, simulation, andcalculation need to be done before ground is broken. Ms.Gauthier finds that “students can apply skills acquiredplaying with Legos and Connects to the projects.”The team goes through an extensive and well-plannedprocess when creating its model. Ms. Gauthier givesstudents the opportunity to present their ideas, draw theproject out on paper, and refine it before including theelements in the model. Her weekly meeting with the teamallows students to ask about the reality of their proposedsolutions and learn about new, untested areas.Altogether, Ms. Gauthier estimates that she met withher award-winning team eight to ten times in 2008,totaling between 20 and 25 hours, while Ms. DeVorespent as much as 75 hours. Their involvement helpedDearborn Heights Montessori win several awards at the2009 Future City Competition.The topic of the 2010 Future City Competition is:“Affordable living space for people who have lost theirhome due to a disaster or financial emergency.” Ms.Gauthier, who will return as a mentor for the second year,is thrilled. “It is good to hear the Future City committeeis coming up with realistic topics; the more realistic thetopic the more the students stand to gain. Last year’swater-centered problem was great.”The Michigan Regional Future City Competition date istentatively scheduled for Wednesday, January 20, 2010,at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi. If your schoolis interested in competing, contact Sue Ruffner at248-353-0735, ext. 117, or sruffner@esd.org. Also visitwww.esd.org for more information.6 | Technology Century | AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2009