DiscoverE Announces 2026 Future City Competition Winners: Students Engineer ‘Farm to Table’ Cities to Eliminate Food Waste

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — DiscoverE (Discover Engineering) has announced the winners of the 2026 Future City global STEM Competition, celebrating the innovative minds of both middle and high school students who tackled this year’s challenge: ‘Farm to Table’. Participants envisioned cities that addressed food waste and kept citizens healthy and safe, demonstrating creativity, engineering prowess, and teamwork.

Since last fall, the program has engaged more than 92,000 middle and high school students in the United States and select international locations — the largest participation in the program’s history. Students have imagined, researched, designed, and built these cities of the future. Emphasizing the engineering design process and project management, students collaborated in teams, led by coaches, to create an essay and a digital model showcasing a sustainable city solving the annual challenge. The competition culminated in a live presentation before a panel of STEM professionals.

Middle School Winners

• Grand Prize: Team Alimora, designed by students from Lionville Middle School in Exton, Pennsylvania, won the top honor at the 34th annual Future City Competition. Guided by educator Guy Raines and mentor Daisy Adams, the team won $10,000 for their STEM program, sponsored by Bentley Systems, Inc.
• Second Place: Team Agrovena from West Ridge Middle School, representing the Texas North region, earned $5,000 towards their STEM program, sponsored by Shell.
• Third Place: Team Agrosyne from JerseySTEM, representing the New Jersey region, secured $2,000 towards their STEM program, sponsored by Bechtel.
• Fourth & Fifth Place: Team SFAX from Annoor Academy of Knoxville in the Tennessee region and Team Mycelia from PEARL Homeschool Group in the Nevada region received $750 for their STEM programs, sponsored by NCEES (National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying).

High School Winners

The Future City High School Competition includes cash prizes and scholarships sponsored by DiscoverE and NCEES.

• Grand Prize: Team Concordia from Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, won a cash prize of $20,000 and a $10,000 scholarship per student, up to $50,000. Led by coach Taryna Patel, the team showcased a visionary, sustainable city through digital modeling and research.
• Second Place: Team New Orleans: Joie De Vivre from Fulton Science Academy in Alpharetta, Georgia earned a $14,000 cash prize and a $7,000 scholarship per student, up to $35,000.
• Third Place: Team Amuna from Guilderland High School in Guilderland, New York received a $7,000 cash prize and a $3,000 scholarship per student, up to $15,000.

About Future City

Future City is one of the world’s leading engineering education programs, engaging students in real-world problem-solving through STEM-based projects. DiscoverE works to cultivate a skilled engineering workforce, with program evaluations showing:

• 83% of middle school students see math and science as vital to their future due to Future City.
• 92% of educators say their students learn STEM concepts not typically covered in standard curricula.
• 87% of high school coaches report their students improve in research, problem-solving, and confidence in STEM activities.

Supporters: DiscoverE programs, including Future City, are supported by the following organizations. At the Visionary Level: Bechtel Group Foundation, NCEES, and Overdeck Family Foundation. At the Leader Level: Bentley Systems Inc., Northrop Grumman Foundation, PMI Educational Foundation, TE Connectivity, UL Research Institutes, and United Engineering Foundation. At the Champion Level: RTX and Shell Energy. At the Partner Level: BAE Systems and Glenn W. Bailey Foundation. At the Supporter Level: ON Semiconductor Foundation and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry as a leading Finals event sponsor.

About DiscoverE: DiscoverE is a nonprofit organization committed to inspiring and empowering the next generation of engineers through free and low-cost global STEM programs. DiscoverE’s initiatives include Engineers Week, Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, Chats with Change Makers, and the Future City® Competition. These programs emphasize problem-solving, creativity, and the critical role of engineering in building a better future. For more information, visit discovere.org.

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SOURCE Discover Engineering