Redford Township’s St. Valentine Catholic School students placed first out of 32 schools in the 2017 Engineering Society of Detroit (ESD) Michigan Regional Future City Competition. The competition calls for sixth, seventh and eighth grade student teams, assisted by a teacher and a volunteer engineer, to design and build a virtual city of the future using SimCity software. This year’s Power of Public Spaces theme challenged teams to design a network of innovative, multi-use public spaces throughout their city that serves a diverse population. The St. Valentine team also garnered four sponsored special awards including the Quality Improvement Award (American Society for Quality, Greater Detroit Section 1000), Best City Award (Crain’s Detroit Business), Best Design, Engineering and Construction Award (Walbridge), and the People’s Choice Award (Ford Motor Company Fund).

Wade Trim professional engineer, Dan Brooks, and mechanical and electrical inspector, John Danic, have mentored the St. Valentine students in the competition for the past 21 years. The students will travel to Washington, DC, where they will compete in the national Future City Competition on February 18-21, 2017.

The St. Valentine team built a scale model section of their City, Briviba, using recycled materials. Established in 2168, Briviba is a thriving metropolis located along the Gulf of Riga in Latvia. Community features include the world’s first large-scale underwater public space, solar energy apartments and an electromagnetic transit system.