Engineering Future Cities: Fellowship Focused on Standards Reimagines a Safer, More Sustainable Future

The inaugural Future City Fellowship created by ULRI and Discover Engineering invited Campbell University students to reimagine the electrification plan for the City of Raleigh using Standards Academy

In October, a team of multidisciplinary students from Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina, demonstrated their knowledge and understanding of safety standards and engineering as part of the pilot Future City Fellowship.

Developed by UL Research Institutes and DiscoverE, the Future City Fellowship invites university and college students to research, model, and design a safe and sustainable futuristic city — all while keeping safety standards in mind. The fellowship is an extension of DiscoverE’s Future City Competition, which invites middle and high school students worldwide to design cities of the future. The team of Campbell University students developed 10-, 20-, and 30-year plans to electrify the city of Raleigh using case studies on electrification from ULRI’s new standards education platform, Standards Academy.

“The main goal of this project is that students would learn how to electrify a city, and so with that, we understand that there’s issues when it comes to safety, sustainability, and the community impact,” said UrLeaka Newsome, Ph.D., postsecondary education team lead for ULRI’s Institute for Research Experiences & Education. “Understanding where standards come into play helps them make better decisions.”

The team of five worked from March through August alongside local and national experts in government, business, and innovation as they researched and designed their plans to adhere to city budgets, policies, safety, entrepreneurship, and infrastructure. Campbell University will invite a new team of students to tackle this challenge next year and two additional collegiate teams will also join the fellowship in 2026.

The students involved in the fellowship’s pilot year said it was a valuable experience they’d recommend to others.

Emma Golden, a political science major at Campbell, said the fellowship provided her hands-on experience working with students and experts across various fields.

“I learned how to connect technical innovation with political and legal feasibility and to understand how zoning laws, equity considerations, and long-term planning affects implementation,” Golden said. “The project strengthened my ability to think across disciplines and communicate with engineers, planners, and stakeholders. I definitely plan to use this experience in my future legal and policy career.”

“For any student interested in the fellowship, it’s a great learning experience,” engineering student Ethan Kessler said. “It gets you talking to the city, large corporations, and gives you outside experience.”

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