Students 'Engineer' Cities Around A Toxic Future

"Toxic chemicals have rendered the planet uninhabitable. How will mankind survive?... The competition in Phoenix started 10 years ago to encourage students to consider careers in engineering at a time when the nation is facing a severe shortage of engineers that is only expected to get worse.

'It shows kids that engineering is a fun occupation,' said Michael Andrews, an electrical engineer and the competition's coordinator. Working in teams of three or four, students spend several months designing a city of the future and building a scale model, preferably using as many recycled objects as possible."