Future City High School is DiscoverE's engineering design competition for students in grades 9–12. Teams imagine a city 100 years in the future and develop solutions to an annual sustainability challenge. The 2026–27 theme is Fire Resilient Future: designing a city that can prevent, withstand, and recover from urban wildfires.
Who can participate
The high school division accepts teams from the United States and internationally. It is separate from Future City's regional middle school competition.
Each team has 3–5 students and one adult coach. Students must belong to the same school, homeschool environment, or recognized youth organization, and each student may join only one team. Coaches may be educators, engineers, parents, or other adult STEM supporters. The registration process requires coaches to complete background screening every three years.
What teams submit
For the virtual Qualification Round, teams submit a city essay of up to 2,000 words and a digital city model created in Autodesk Revit. The organizers require Revit rather than another modeling platform.
Selected finalists travel to Washington, DC, to present their city and answer questions from STEM professionals. The presentation lasts seven minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions.
Fees and travel
The current 2026–27 coach registration form lists $375 per team for Competition Access and $300 per team for Program Access. Program Access provides the educational resources but does not itself make a team eligible to compete. Upgrading from Program Access later costs another $150.
Teams invited to Finals must fund their own travel and hotel. Computer and internet access are required; the program overview also lists a budget of up to $100 for model and presentation materials.
2026–27 schedule and prizes
Teams work on their projects in September–December, compete virtually in January, and attend Finals in February if selected. The announced Finals event is February 13–17, 2027, with High School Competition Day on February 14.
The announced top prizes are:
| Place | Scholarship per student | Cash prize shared among the team's students |
|---|---|---|
| First | $10,000 | $20,000 |
| Second | $7,500 | $14,000 |
| Third | $3,000 | $7,000 |
The public FAQ still displays an October 31, 2025 registration deadline. That date has not been carried forward as a deadline for the 2026–27 season; confirm the current deadline with the organizers before registering.