Dunedin Highland Middle Students Place Second In Engineering Competition

A student team from Dunedin Highland Middle School took second place in a regional "Future City" competition recently.

The Dunedin team received trophies their city of Gelukkiger Plek, a simulated city designed using a software program called "SimCity 4 Delux" and built as a 3-D tabletop model. All models in the Tampa Bay Regional National Engineers Week Future City ^® competition were to be created using under $100 and recycled materials.

The students also had to write an essay, and a city narrative to this year's topic "Fuel Your Future: Imagine new ways to meet our energy needs and maintain a healthy planet."

A team from Tarpon Springs Middle School took first place at the competition on Jan. 21 and will head to finals in Washington, DC, this month (Feb. 19 to 21). The Tarpon Springs team competes at the national level for a $5,000 prize from the National Society of Professional Engineers. The prize money is intended for the winning school's technology programs.

According to a press release, more than 35,000 students from 1,300 middle schools in 37 regions across the country are participating in the Future City regional competitions. 

Schools wishing to compete in next year’s competition, may contact Cengiz Mumcuoglu at 813-281-3242 or Cengiz.mumcuoglu@skanskausa.com.

[Updated 11:29 a.m., Feb. 23, 2012]