Future City I October Update

Communicating Important Dates

Resources For You

Future City Resources & Reminders

School routines are back, and it's a great time to immerse yourself in the Future City program fully. This program aims to provide students with more information about engineers and future career opportunities, as well as encourage them to think about being good citizens in their community and making the world a better place. Our first deliverables (Project Plans 1-2 and Essay) are due in early December. The project plan is a great way to lay the foundation for the project's goals and break the work down into manageable tasks.

A few competition reminders as you embark on your Future City journey:

• Handbook: This is the best resource for success at the Future City Wisconsin Regional. It features the program overview, an intro to this year's theme, research guidance, and the rubrics our judges will use at the competition.

• Resources for Educators: Check out the resources in your dashboard! These are available for you to use throughout the program. At the DiscoverE Educator Drop-In call, a region shared a few helpful videos for sharing the importance of engineering in our community. A link to this video and other resources can be found on our website.

• Model Reminders: As your students start planning their models, please remember that they will be carrying the model to and from the judging rooms, as well as up and down stairs. Model handbook updates: This year, all models need to be one single model. Extended parts and pullouts are allowed if they are fully supported by the model or a removable part of the model held by a presenter. As always, students will transport models by hand to and from their judging rooms. Please keep this in mind when designing.

Last year, we launched a video clip series to introduce educators and students to the Future City Deliverables. Please review these videos and share them with your students. They are all available on our website. We will have updates on our competition theme resources in the Fall. If you have any questions about this program, please contact Theresa Wolf at twolf@stemforward.org.

Additional Events

Last Call: Register for the sySTEMnow Conference

Register for the 22nd Annual sySTEMnow conference on Wednesday, October 29, 2025. We welcome two keynote speakers: Dr. Nehemiah Mabry (STEMedia) and Tara Chklovski (Technovation). Join us for an inspiring day of connection and collaboration. 

The registration deadline is October 24th, so don't miss the opportunity to join us for this year's event at the reduced ticket price for educators.

Register Today for Contrapt Wisconsin

April 24, 2026 - Contrapt Waukesha at WCTC

May 8, 2026 - Contrapt Milwaukee at MSOE

As a Future City educator, we have an “early bird” registration opportunity for Contrapt. Register now to take part in this Spring middle school competition. This year, students will “Make It Grow” by watering a plant in 8 or more steps, applying physics, engineering, simple machines, and creativity. Each school can bring up to 4 teams to one of our two locations.

We look forward to seeing your contraptions in spring!

Share Your Story

STEM Forward's Impact

Did you know STEM Forward has been shaping the future for 120 years? Founded in 1905 as the Engineers and Scientists of Milwaukee, we rebranded over a decade ago to become STEM Forward—expanding our mission to spark STEM career awareness and inspire students through K–12 partnerships and programs.

As we celebrate this incredible milestone, we'd love to hear from you! Take just 2–3 minutes to share your story about how STEM Forward and our programs have impacted your life. We'll feature these stories on social media as we "blow out the candles" on 120 years of innovation and inspiration.