Future City

Key facts

Eligible grades

Grades 6, 7 and 8 for the main competition. NEW: DiscoverE has opened Future City High School to all high schools for grades 9 to 12, after piloting it the previous year.

The high school division works differently: there are NO regional competitions, and teams submit all deliverables directly to Future City National. The previous listing covered only the middle school programme.

Source, checked 2026-09-02

Official divisions

The main competition is grades 6 to 8 with regional contests. A separate Future City High School division for grades 9 to 12 has no regional round and submits directly to national.

Based on the organiser's own divisions.

Eligible ages

Not confirmed. This organiser may set eligibility by grade rather than age. We do not convert one into the other.

DiscoverE sets eligibility by grade, not age.

Individual or team

Team · A regional team consists of three presenting students from the same school, an engineer-mentor and a teacher sponsor, though the minimum team size is three students and more may work on the project. Regions set their own limits on how many teams a school may bring: one region allows up to five teams at the morning preliminary round.

Where it runs

In person · United States, International affiliates

Entry cost

$25 per school.Model materials are recycled by design, so the build cost is low. Some regional coordinators offer further discounts to member districts.

Registration deadline

Set locally, not published as a single national date Set by each region, and they vary widely. One region's registration deadline is 31 October. Media waiver and medical release forms for every student are due separately, at the end of January in the most recent cycle. Find your own region's dates.

Competition dates

Teams work for roughly four months from September. Regional Competitions are held in January; one region's 2027 regional is 23 January 2027. The Finals are in Washington, D.C. in February, as a featured event of National Engineers Week.

Difficulty

Some preparation neededYou will want a few weeks of targeted practice. Most motivated students place respectably.

Prizes

Trips, prizes and special awardsRegional winners receive an all-expenses trip to the Finals for the official team of three students, educator and mentor. A practical warning from the organiser: travel must be finalised within seven days of the regional competition or the team may forfeit the free trip, and travel itineraries must be approved by 5:00 p.m. ET the same day they are received. Anyone beyond the official five pays their own way.