DiscoverE Announces 2025 Future City® Competition Winners: Students Engineer Floating Cities to Tackle Rising Seas

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- DiscoverE (Discover Engineering) has announced the winners of the 2025 Future City® global STEM Competition, celebrating the innovative minds of both middle and high school students who tackled this year's challenge: "Above the Current." Participants envisioned sustainable, floating cities that address rising sea levels and climate change, demonstrating creativity, engineering prowess, and teamwork.

Since last fall, middle school students in 37 U.S. regions and teams from around the world have imagined, designed, and built cities for DiscoverE's 2024-2025 Future City® Competition. The high school competition saw 83 teams, comprising almost 300 students from across the U.S. and China, engage in imagining, researching, designing, and building cities of the future. Emphasizing the engineering design process and project management, students collaborated in teams, led by coaches, to create an essay and a digital model showcasing a sustainable city solving the annual challenge. The competition culminated in a live presentation before a panel of STEM professionals.

Middle School Winners

• Grand Prize: Team Salacia, designed by students from Downingtown Middle School in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, won the top honor at the 33rd annual Future City Competition. Guided by educator Lisa Pershall and mentor Thomas Chmielenski, the team earned a trip to U.S. Space Camp and a $7,500 grant for their school's STEM program, courtesy of Bentley Systems, Inc.
  
  
• Second Place: The Floating Dutchmen team from Farnsworth Middle School, representing the New York (Albany) region, earned a $5,000 STEM scholarship sponsored by Shell.
  
  
• Third Place: FSA TEAM 4/Bangkok Bn Na from Fulton Science Academy Private School in Alpharetta, Georgia secured a $2,000 STEM scholarship sponsored by Bechtel.
  
  
• Fourth & Fifth Place: Mesa Accelerated and Gifted Academy in Mesa, Arizona and Isla de Diamantes in St. Clair, Missouri each received $750 for their STEM programs, sponsored by NCEES (National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying).

High School Winners

In this inaugural year of the Future City High School Competition, cash prizes and scholarships are sponsored by DiscoverE and NCEES. 

• Grand Prize: Team New Malé from Fulton Science Academy Private School in Alpharetta, Georgia won, securing a $20,000 cash prize and a $10,000 scholarship for each student. Led by coach Annie Nelson, the team showcased a visionary sustainable city through digital modeling and research.
  
  
• Second Place: Colorado Academy in Littleton, Colorado earned a $14,000 cash prize and a $7,000 scholarship per student.
  
  
• Third Place: Al-hadi School of Accelerative Learning from Houston, Texas received a $7,000 cash prize and a $3,000 scholarship per student.

About Future City

Future City is one of the world's leading engineering education programs, engaging students in real-world problem-solving through STEM-based projects. DiscoverE works to cultivate a skilled engineering workforce, with program evaluations showing:

• 84% of middle school students see math and science as vital to their future due to Future City.
• 93% of educators say their students learn STEM concepts not typically covered in standard curricula.
• 88% of high school coaches report their students improve in research, problem-solving, and confidence in STEM activities.

Sponsors & Supporters

DiscoverE's Future City program is made possible by generous sponsors:

• Visionary Level: Bechtel Corporation, NCEES, Overdeck Family Foundation
  
• Leader Level: Bentley Systems Inc., Northrop Grumman Foundation, PMI Educational Foundation, TE Connectivity, UL Research Institute, United Engineering Foundation
  
• Champion Level: RTX, Shell Energy
  
• Supporter Level: BAE Systems, Glenn W. Bailey Foundation, ON Semiconductor Foundation

Get Involved

Future City thrives on the support of dedicated volunteers. If you're passionate about inspiring the next generation of engineers, visit www.futurecity.org for opportunities to mentor, judge, or participate.

About DiscoverE

DiscoverE is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Their initiatives include Engineers Week, Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day™, World Engineering Day, Chats with Changemakers, and outreach for the Cities of the Future and Dream Big films.

DiscoverE leads a growing volunteer movement that inspires and informs future generations about engineering. Their network includes volunteers from 100+ professional societies, major corporations, and government agencies who work to introduce students, parents, and educators to engineering through hands-on experiences that make science and math relevant.

For more information, visit www.discovere.org.

SOURCE Discover Engineering