The 2026 Future City Wisconsin Regional January 17, 2026

MSOE Kern Center - Milwaukee, WI

Thank you to everyone who celebrated creativity, teamwork, and real-world problem-solving by supporting the 50 Future City middle school teams at the Wisconsin Regional Competition on January 17, 2026!

PARTICIPANTS: Please complete the DiscoverE surveys to share your experience and help us improve the program.

Congratulations to the Future City Competition winners!

Learn More About the Future City Competition

The Future City Competition is a project-based learning activity introducing middle school students to project management and the Engineering Design Process. Future City starts with a question – How can we make the world a better place? To answer it, middle school students imagine, research, design, and build cities of the future that showcase their solution to a citywide sustainability issue. Students research, plan, and create a city that exists 100 years in the future while assessing risk and meeting a schedule. Through the deliverables of the project, students will:

• Apply math and science concepts to real-world issues.

• Develop writing, public speaking, problem-solving, teamwork, project management, and time management skills.

• Learn how their community functions to improve citizenship.

• Build a scale model using recycled materials.

• Research and design solutions to engineering challenges.

• Present and defend their design to a panel of technical judges.

Why participate? This cross-curricular educational program allows students to do what engineers do—identify problems, learn the specs, brainstorm solutions, design solutions, build, test, retest, and share their results. This process is called the Engineering Design Process. With the Engineering Design Process and project management at its center, Future City is an engaging way to build students’ 21st-century skills while they apply math and science concepts to real-world problems. Future City meets the following Academic Standards Compliance:

• Common Core Standards: Science and Technical Literacy

• Common Core: ELA

• Common Core: Mathematics

• Next Generation Science Standards

• Benchmarks for Science Literacy

• Principles and Standards for School Mathematics

Who is eligible? Teams can consist of three students or an entire 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade class. However, the official competing team for presentation and Q&A is limited to three students.

What are the elements? Students, with their team members, will complete five deliverables:

• 1,500-word city essay

• Scale model (or multiple model segments) built from recycled materials

• Project Plan

• City Presentation

• Q&A session with judges

• View videos for the different competition elements on our YouTube Future City Playlist.

Is there a theme? Yes, the theme for 2025-26 was “Farm to Table.” It challenged students to devise innovative and sustainable solutions to reduce food waste in their future cities. By combining engineering, technology, and policy, students explored how to build more resilient, efficient, and equitable food systems. Students designed a city that eliminates food waste from farm to table, keeping its citizens healthy and safe.

When was the competition? The Regional Competition was held on January 16, 2026. The Future City Finals will take place in Washington, D.C., from February 14 to 18, 2026. Future City provides round-trip transportation and hotel accommodations for the First Place Team’s three student presenters, educators, and mentors.

What is the cost? We have waived the registration fee, so it is free to register for the regional competition! The registration deadline was October 31, 2025.

Are There Mentor Opportunities? We are seeking passionate mentors, engineers, STEM professionals, and educators to guide students through this exciting, project-based competition. The mentoring commitment begins at 4+ hours from September through January, during which you will serve as a sounding board for ideas, provide feedback on deliverables, and share your experience to help spark enthusiasm for potential STEM careers among students. Most educators for the 2025/26 season have been paired, but if you are interested in becoming a mentor in the future, connect with Theresa Wolf at twolf@stemforward.org for more information, or complete our Mentor Pairing Form to express interest in being matched with a school. Be part of shaping the next generation of innovators!

Educator Registration

Educator registration for the 2027 Wisconsin Regional Future City Competition will be coming in fall of 2026.

STEM Forward extends a special thank you to the Regional Future City Steering Committee:

• Eric Tabaska, Badger Meter

• James Formea, Eaton

• Jason Rowell, Astronautics

• Joe Lucchesi, Butters Fetting (Retired)

• Nick Seidler, MSOE

• Sara Feuling, AEM

• Susan Coyle, Baxter & Woodman

Thank you to the STEM Forward Board of Directors for their endorsement and support of this program.