BART expands its involvement in student engineering competition

BART sponsoring more schools as they try to follow in footsteps of 2005 Future City regional winner

BART will expand its involvement in the Future City engineering competition Saturday, January 7, 2006 when it invites eight teams from middle schools in San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond to the BART Preliminary Competition at the Joseph P. Bort Center in Oakland. The teams of seventh and eighth graders hope to follow in the footsteps of the BART-sponsored team that pulled off a stunning victory at the 2005 Northern California Regional Competition, earning a trip to Washington D.C. for the national finals.

BART PROVIDES EXPERT ADVICE
That team, from Edna Brewer Middle School in Oakland, made the most of the advice it received from its BART mentor, earning a National Special Award at the finals. This year eight schools hope to get a jump on the competition Saturday as BART Directors, elected officials, engineers and celebrity judges provide input to help them prepare for the January 28 regionals in Santa Clara.

STUDENTS CREATE VISIONS OF THE FUTURE
The students will unveil intricate tabletop models of their vision for the city of the future. The models were designed with software provided by a major Silicon Valley innovator and must meet strict guidelines set forth by the national Future City organization. More than 30,000 students nationwide participate in the Future City competition, vying for a trip to U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Al.

EVENT DETAILS
WHO: Students from eight schools in San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond
WHAT: Preliminary judging for Nat'l. Engineers Week Future City Competition
WHERE: Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter, 101 8th Street, Oakland, CA
WHEN: 8:00 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, January 7, 2006 VISUALS: 3 x 4 foot scale models of future cities designed and built by students