Engineer mentors who volunteer for the 2002 National Engineers Week Future City Competition will help introduce a new generation of young people to the essence of engineering At the same time, they’ll be sharing that message with a much larger audience, as schools, teachers, parents, businesses, and local and national media get involved with this increasingly popular educational effort.

The Future City Competition invites seventh- and eighth-grade students--working in teams of three under the guidance of a teacher and engineer--to design a city of tomorrow, first on computer and then in large, three-dimensional scale models. Beginning at the school level, and then in regional competitions across the United States, the student teams vie for a chance to win a free trip to Washington for the national finals.