Wade Trim employees supported the 2019-2020 Engineering Society of Detroit’s Michigan Regional Future City Competition in a variety of ways. The annual event calls for teams of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students from across the state—assisted by a teacher and a volunteer engineer—to design a virtual city of the future using SimCity software and build it with recycled materials. This year’s theme, Clean Water: Tap Into Tomorrow, challenged students to design a resilient water system to maintain a reliable, clean water supply when faced with a specific threat.

For the past 24 years, Professional Engineer Dan Brooks and Mechanical/Electrical Inspector John Danic have mentored students at Redford’s St. Valentine Catholic School during the competition. This year, the students created a scale model section of their City, Aquapago. Built in 2188, Aquapago is located near London, England, on the Thames River. Aquapago was rebuilt after the great flood of 2125. The class rebuilt the City’s water system using Aquabots to monitor for pollutants and developed a Water Safety Inspection Center (WSIC) to desalinate sea water for their water supply. The St. Valentine team took third place in the competition and was also honored with two special awards: Best Communication System and Best Use of Alternative or Renewable Fuels.

Other Wade Trim employees served as judges in the competition, donating their expertise and resources to evaluate competition projects. John Maynard, PE, served as an Essay, Sim City, and Competition Day judge, reviewing both the presentation and built-out city model. Safety Manager Tammy Mathews volunteered as a special judge for Waste and Recycling awards. Engineer Savanna Japenga judged the Essay and Sim City portions of the competition. Learn more about ESD’s Future City Competition at esd.org/programs/futurecity.