Brooklyn Teams Score at Polytechnic Competition
By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
METROTECH – Seventh- and eighth-grade students have a lot on their plates lately: The careless adults around them seem to have messed up both the economy and the environment.
While the world struggles to solve the problems of today, however, teams of students are already planning for an even more daunting future challenge: conserving precious water as demand rapidly outpaces supply.
Dozens of middle school teams in the New York area have been working for months, researching and building models of cities of the future designed to conserve, recycle and reuse existing water sources. On Saturday, MetroTech Center at Polytechnic Institute of NYU was awash with dazzling city models featuring monorails and maglev buses, “green” buildings, rooftop gardens and water filtration plants.
It was the regional match of the 2009 National Engineers Week Future City Competition, and the contestants were vying for scholarships to Polytechnic and a chance to compete in Washington, D.C. for additional scholarships and prizes.
Jonas Gonzalez, a seventh-grader at Philippa Schuyler I.S. 383, described his team’s colorful city "Sem Agua,” which was made of recycled and painted bottles, boxes and other findings:
“There’s a plasma degassification system to create massive amounts of energy,” he said. “We researched online about different technologies. This system, under the ground, takes waste and creates energy.”
Though the system is not yet “efficient enough to be used yet,” he said, “through research it should become more efficient.”
Teammate Joel Corcino, an eighth-grader, said, “I learned a lot of new things that can be used in the future to create energy. “
“This is our third year,” said I.S. 383 teacher Lindrick Outerbridge. “This year they created a living space that is self-sustaining and maximizes the use of water without utilizing the municipal water system. They’ve used vertical farming, which reduces the carbon footprint by combining agrifarming within a high-rise.” The team also built in renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy, he said.
I.S. 383 took home a special award for the “Most Innovative Power Generating System.”
A City Named ‘Hope’
Working under the guidance of a teacher and volunteer engineer mentor, the teams used SimCity 4 Deluxe software donated to each school by Electronic Arts, and then built their models to scale. Students also prepared an abstract describing their city and an essay on a pressing social need, this year on water use.
The entry from Mark Twain Middle School, named “Hope,” featured a working gravity-driven maglev bus and a spurting fountain. The city also featured solar panels on top of buildings, and used hydroelectric power and hydrogen power plants.
The city was designed to “provide a safe environment where people can better educate themselves, find a place to work and live in an ideal city,” said student Sasson Rafailov. “There are water treatment plants all over the city,” he said. The maglev buses, using magnetic repulsion, make the city “less dependent on fossil fuels.”
Each of the three members of the first place team receives awards that include the promise of a $5,000 annual scholarship at Polytechnic, once they are accepted and enroll, said Dr. Noel N. Kriftcher, executive director of Poly's David Packard Center for Technology and Educational Alliances.
In addition, the first place team will be sent as the New York City Metropolitan Area representative to Washington, D.C. during National Engineers Week (Feb. 15-21), where they will compete for additional scholarships and prizes at the 2009 National Future City Competition.
This year’s first place team is Valley Middle School, from Oakland, New Jersey, with the city "Xi Wang Zhi Cheng (City of Hope)."
The second place team wins an annual $2,000 scholarship, and the third place team receives an annual $1,000 scholarship. This year, according to Kriftcher, judges awarded third place to two teams, making the potential in scholarships awarded in 2009 total $108,000.
Long Island’s Islip Middle School, with "SunSandCity,” won second place. Michelangelo M.S. 144, from the Bronx ("Poseidon"), and Valley Middle School, from Oakland, N.J. ("Amala Saher -- Pure City") were the third place teams.
Myra S. Barnes I.S. 24, from Staten Island, won fourth place with "Leilano City."
Brooklyn Teams Winning Special Awards:
Most Futuristic City--Mott Hall IV Middle School--"Mott Hall IV"
Most Innovative Power Generating System--Philippa Schuyler IS 383--"Sem Agua"
Best Water Treatment System--Brooklyn Amity School--"Ocasus Luna"
Most Creative Public Transit System--Mark Twain IS 239--"Hope"
Safest City Design--Eugenio Maria de Hostos IS 318--"Pani-Dunia"
————————
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2009
All materials posted on BrooklynEagle.com are protected by United States copyright law.
Just a reminder, though -- It’s not considered polite to paste the entire story on your blog. Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph,( 40 words) then post a link to the rest of the story. That helps increase click-throughs for everyone, and minimizes copyright issues. So please keep posting, but not the entire article. arturc at att.net
