About this competition
Future City is a project-based engineering competition for grades 6-8 (with a high-school division added in 2024). Teams of three students plus a teacher advisor plus an engineer mentor design a city of the future that addresses a specific engineering challenge — the 2025-2026 theme is "Farm to Table: Eliminating Food Waste."
The deliverables are unusual for a STEM contest: a 1,500-word city essay, a physical scale model built for under $100, a project plan, and a 7-minute presentation to a panel of professional engineers. This breadth makes Future City a strong fit for teams that include kids interested in writing, design, and presentation — not just hardware.
Roughly 40,000 students participate each year through ~40 regional competitions in January, with the National Finals held during DiscoverE's Engineers Week in Washington, D.C. in February.
Season & deadlines
Team registration opens August. Regional competitions in January; National Finals in Washington, D.C. during Engineers Week (Feb).
Season window: September through February.
Cost
$25–$100 — Team registration ~$25 + ~$100 cap on physical-model materials. Regional sponsors often cover registration for Title I schools.
Prizes & outcomes
National Champion team wins a trip to U.S. Space Camp + $7,500 for the school's STEM program.