& Won Best Transportation System
The presenters got to meet the President & talk to the Astronauts
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President Obama Speaks to Orbiting AstronautsPublished by Klaus Schmidt on Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:08 am via: NASAAbout an hour after the crew wakeup call at 4:17 p.m. EST Wednesday, all 11 astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station and space shuttle Endeavour received a congratulatory phone call from President Barack Obama, who was accompanied at the White House by congressional leaders and a dozen middle school students from across the country who are in Washington, D.C. for a national engineering competition. Joining the president were 12 students from Birney Middle School of Detroit, Elkhorn Middle School of Omaha, Neb., St. Thomas the Apostle of Miami and Davidson IB Middle School of Davidson, N.C. These students are in Washington as leaders of four of 39 teams participating in the “Future City” engineering competition hosted by National Engineers Week. Building on the president’s “Educate to Innovate” campaign and his emphasis on inspiring young adults to pursue excellence in science, technology, engineering and math, the students are all leaders of teams that are finalists. The competition included 34,000 seventh and eighth graders from across the nation who produced innovative ideas and designs for a city of tomorrow. The Davidson IB Middle School team was the overall winner of the national competition. |
 U.S. President Barack Obama, flanked by Congressional leaders and middle school students from Michigan, Florida, and Nebraska, congratulates the astronauts on the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-130 Mission on their successful ongoing mission from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on February 17, 2010. UPI/Olivier Douliery/Pool | License Photo | Permalink |
 U.S. President Barack Obama, flanked by Congressional leaders and middle school students from Michigan, Florida, and Nebraska, congratulates the astronauts on the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-130 Mission on their successful ongoing mission from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on February 17, 2010. UPI/Olivier Douliery/Pool | License Photo | Permalink |
 U.S. President Barack Obama, flanked by Congressional leaders and middle school students from Michigan, Florida, and Nebraska, congratulates the astronauts on the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-130 Mission on their successful ongoing mission from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on February 17, 2010. UPI/Olivier Douliery/Pool | License Photo | Permalink |
 President Barack Obama is joined by Congressional leaders and middle school students from Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, and Nebraska in the Oval Office after congratulating the astronauts onboard the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Endeavour on their successful ongoing mission, Feb. 17, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) |
  Natalie Henderson, Kelly Mulligan, Shanae Swaby present their project at the 18th Annual Future City Competition. This year's theme is providing an affordable living space for people who've lost their home to a disaster or financial emergency. Students Learn Design, Engineering in 'Future
City' Contest
By Betty Klinck With materials as diverse as empty pill
containers, soda cans and an old Christmas tree ornament, hundreds of
middle school students set out to create futuristic city designs that
would "provide an affordable green living space for people who have lost
their home due to disaster or financial emergency."
The 18th annual National Engineers Week Future City Competition brought together 39 teams of seventh- and eighth-graders for the finals last week in Washington, D.C. The students of Davidson IB Middle School in Davidson, N.C., took the grand prize (a trip to U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala.) by imagining the city of Mamohatra, where dangerous E. coli bacteria could be used to purify water. Other winners: •Second place and a $2,000 scholarship to Valley Middle School of Oakland, N.J. •Third and a $1,000 scholarship to Northern Nevada Home Schools Mount Rose of Reno. "We want the students to look at engineering in a new light. Engineering's not just about math and science, although those are parts of it. It's about shaping the 'what if,' " says Bill Knight, Future City's national program manager. The team from Birnery Middle School in Southfield, Mich., considered the "what if" with the SCQUBE, or Self Contained Quality Underwater Building Establishment, for their city, Pindari, which had been through a flood. The all-girl Birnery team placed in the top five with its eye-catching skit, metallic vests and innovative CGIs, or Communication Glove Initiators. The CGIs act as the main communication system and power the transportation system in Pindari. |
 Some Birney team members with Clarence Wardell, PhD, an alum of Birney and S-L currently working in DC |
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  Greg, Emily, Natalie,Kelly, Rama, Arlisa, Shanae and Marquis with the Future City model--Pindari |
  The team in D.C. |
  In Chambers at the Capitol Arlisa, Emily, Marquis and Natalie in one of the U.S. Capitol chambers |
  Natalie and Shanae (Kelly in background) at Future City National Competition in Washington, D.C. U.S. Capitol |
 All the Future city teams photo op! |
Southfield students join Obama in D.C. for call to NASANathan Hurst / Detroit News Washington Bureau February 17, 2010Washington ---- A handful of Southfield middle school students are getting a chance to meet President Barack Obama this afternoon as he makes a telephone call to NASA astronauts circling Earth. The students from Birney Middle School in Southfield are part of a group of 12 middle-schoolers in Washington as part of the "Future City" engineering competition being sponsored by National Engineers Week. The competition pits teams of seventh- and eighth-graders against each other to see who can come up with the most innovative vision for the future of cities. The Birney students will join peers from Nebraska, Florida and North Carolina in the Roosevelt Room at the White House for the call to astronauts who are performing work on the International Space Station. |
Southfield's Birney places 5th in national competitionBY LORI HIGGINS FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER Feb. 16, 2010 Thirty-nine teams competed, with the top five winning awards. Birney’s team was among that top five, taking an honorable mention. Only three of the top five teams are invited to the White House, Berndadette Pass, assistant principal at Birney, said. “We are absolutely thrilled with the kids’ hard work,” Pass said. The competition requires students to design a city of the future based on the theme of creating affordable living spaces for people who had lost their home because of a disaster or financial emergency. The Birney team won the state level of the competition in January. |
SOUTHFIELD SUN Know Your Schools February 25, 2010  |
 Click here for Pictures from Birney Middle School Wins Future Cities for Michigan |