Arora Sponsors 2021 Philadelphia Regional Future City Competition

Arora Engineers, Inc. (Arora) was thrilled to sponsor the Philadelphia Regional Future City Competition once again, held virtually this year on January 30, 2021. Future City is a STEM-centric, project-based learning competition for middle school students to imagine, research, design and build cities of the future.

This year’s theme of “Living on the Moon” challenged participants to design a future lunar city and provide examples of how their city uses two Moon resources to keep citizens safe and healthy.

Typically, this event includes a 20 minute visit with the various school teams at Archbishop John Carroll High School. This year was a radically different experience for kids, mentors, teachers, judges and competition administrators alike. On Saturday morning, participants and judges checked into the Future City Virtual Convention site; all of the models and video presentations were reviewed online and scored by the judges. One by one, the judges got to speak with the three person team from each of their assigned schools. Arora’s Judging Group asked the kids questions for 10 minutes and then submitted their Q&A scores online. The regional finalists were selected from the highest scoring schools for the afternoon championship round. The first and second place teams this year were awarded to Saint Hilary School and Downingtown Middle School.

As a Bronze Sponsor, Arora was honored to present our special award “Rethinking Infrastructure for Future Technology and IoT” to Pierce Middle School. These erudite students dreamed up a domed city of photoanode glass supported by titanium bases, which they planned to mine from the mineral extraction site in the industrial areas they designed. When asked how they would utilize technology to prioritize the health and safety of their city’s denizens, the young women presenting described a complex network of sensors and a centralized intelligence system to monitor water quality and air purification performance to ensure the safety of the water and air within their domes. Their design truly embodied Arora’s mission of Rethinking Infrastructure by incorporating IoT to ensure a safe environment for their imaged lunar city.

Thank you to Arora’s Vince De Meis, PE, PMP, and Allan Stock, AIA, who volunteered as Presentation and Model judges, Christyn Binder who served as a Special Awards judge, and Donna Guzewski, PE, LEED Green Associate, who volunteered as a mentor for Newark Center for Creative Learning (NCCL).

Arora would like to congratulate Saint Hilary School, the first-place winner in this year’s competition, and to Pierce Middle School, the winner of Arora’s “Rethinking Infrastructure for Future Technology and IoT” award. Congratulations to all the winners and participants!