Students create future cities

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) - Area students took part in the National Engineers Week Future City Competition at the Hampton Air and Space Center Saturday. They created cities of the future and presented them to judges.

"We use 13 percent wind power and 87 percent nuclear power. The reason we did that, we wanted to have fail safes. If both these fail and the plant isn't producing enough power for the entire city, we have a back-up right here. It teaches us ingenuity, teamwork, you know, basic stuff that we will need in the future," said 8th grader Rodney Hendricks.

"The competition is all about building a city of the future. We chose nuclear fusion because it's clean, efficient and it will work real well," said Berkeley Bannerman of Hugo Owens Middle School.

Future City students see engineering as a direct influence on their lives, why math and science are relevant to their world, and make a hands-on connection between their education, Virginia and their future. Organizers say the competition encourages teamwork, cooperation, and presentation skills. They say Future Cities are "dazzling and colorful, constructed from recycled materials and built for less than $100."

The winning team will go to the Future City National Finals in Crystal City, Virginia in February to take on teams from across the country.