Iowa middle school wins IEEE-USA national communications award

Turkey Valley Community School of Jackson Junction, Iowa, won the seventh annual IEEE-USA Best Communications System Award at the National Finals of the National Engineers Week Future City Competition on 21 February. The honor, for the most "efficient and accurate communications system," was one of 29 special awards presented at the Hyatt Regency Hotel-Capitol Hill.

The team included students Christine Boyer, 14; Jordan Bruess, 13; and Julia Cuvelier, 14. Turkey Valley language arts teacher Mary Jo Hangartner served as the teacher sponsor, and professional land surveyor Paul Herold was the engineer mentor. The team earned its trip to Washington by winning the Iowa regional competition last month. Its city, "Ville de Tranquille," is set in the year 2169.

Turkey Valley's communications system features a wireless, voice-activated device that can be worn on jewelry, clothing or accessories. Dubbed a "Personal Information Port," it can store one's personal information, such as medical records, and allows for a person to be located in case of emergency. Because it recognizes an individual's DNA, ID theft is impossible.

IEEE-member judges Amarjeet Basra of Annandale, Va., Tesa Leon of Washington, D.C., and Abby Vogel of Kensington, Md., selected Turkey Valley from among the 35 teams that advanced to the finals.

"They made a good presentation," Leon said. "I like that they dealt with data, privacy and the use of DNA. Protecting one's privacy is a big issue today, and they thought about solving it."

IEEE-USA President John Meredith presented each team member with a plaque. Each student will also receive a $100 U.S. Savings Bond.

The Future City Competition, which IEEE-USA introduced to Engineers Week in 1993, is designed to encourage the future generation of engineers. Seventh and eighth grade students create their own vision of a city of tomorrow, working first on computer and then constructing three-dimensional scale models. More than 1,100 schools and 30,000 students competed this past year across the United States. International pilot programs are underway in Egypt, India, Japan and Sweden.

St. Thomas More School of Baton Rouge, La., won the overall competition for their future city, Mwinda. The school also captured top honors in 2005. Visit www.futurecity.org or www.eweek.org for more information.

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Mike Andrews, chair of the Future City Advisory Board and co-coordinator of the Phoenix region, is one of numerous IEEE members who hold leadership roles within the organization. Regional coordinators or co-coordinators include Sonya Hutchinson (Alabama); Dan O'Malley (California-Northern); Osama Mohammed (Florida); Todd Hiemer (Oklahoma); Zafar Taqvi (Texas-Houston); Jean Eason (Texas-North Texas); and Karen Pavletich (Washington State).

IEEE-USA advances the public good and promotes the careers and public policy interests of more than 220,000 engineers, scientists and allied professionals who are U.S. members of the IEEE. IEEE-USA is part of the IEEE, the world's largest technical professional society with 360,000 members in 150 countries. See http://www.ieeeusa.org.