Bright Minds, Big City

CHATSWORTH — Three students from Ernest Lawrence Middle School will travel to Washington, D.C., next month, bringing their design for a city of the future to compete in a national contest.

Their creation, “HydroCity,” is an impressive integration of high technology and basic humanity that required the students to apply advanced knowledge of mathematics and civics.

The San Fernando Valley students defeated teams from 18 Southern California schools in the regional finals last week of the contest sponsored by National Engineers Week, a consortium of corporations and engineering associations.

“This has been a great project. The kids learned a lot about how cities work and they really did a nice job putting it together,” said Lawrence school science teacher Daniel Rotblatt. He and Boeing engineer Robert Cravotta advised the students on the project.

“Even if we hadn’t won, it would have been fantastic,” Rotblatt said.

But their victory earned the Lawrence team a free weeklong trip to the nation’s capitol. The competition finals will be held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The winning team will receive a free trip to Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

Eighth-graders Alison Hoffman and TiannaVon Muldorfer, and seventh-grader David Schaffner were selected for the Lawrence team because of their strong academic records.

In October they began planning their utopian city. Using the popular computer software program SimCity 2000, the students created a computer model. They then built a three-dimensional version of the city. They also wrote about the benefits of their city and how its design would shield residents from natural disasters.

HydroCity, as its name suggests, is powered by the water resources that surround it. Among the design elements introduced by the students are hills used for recreation and a magnetic monorail and electric freeway transportation system that reduces pollution. Ample housing, entertainment and industry are also included, as well as hospitals and homeless shelters.

“Before this we didn’t really know how cities work, like controlling crime and planning for schools and industry and other things,” said Alison. “It’s nice to know we could do something like this.”

In addition to creating the physical layout of the city, the students were required to consider politics, transportation, limited budgets and energy needs. Entries were judged on layout, efficiency and livability.

“It’s really a quantitative project that requires a lot of serious study. It’s not fluff,” said Lawrence Assistant Principal Brenda Winter. “The students worked hard but they also had fun doing it. The concept of improving cities captures everyone’s imagination.”