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RALEIGH -- Welcome to Mahali Kuwa, the South African city powered by the sun, hydro, wind and personal fitness machines, where residents are given derma patches that monitor their heart rhythms and "gelulators" with nanobots that keep foods cool.

Three eighth-graders from J.M. Alexander Middle School in Huntersville presented this model community's construction and operation at the state's 10th annual "Future City" competition at N.C. State University on Saturday. They came away with the top prize -- $1,000 split among the students and the school. They advance to the national championships in Washington, D.C., next month.

They were among 19 teams from schools across the state that competed Saturday, using bottle caps, cut-up compact discs and parts from inkjet printers to create model cities that are environmentally friendly and provide economic opportunities for their residents. The students dreamed up floating and tiered cities with underwater subways and magnetic levitation trains, and mirrored orbs that follow the sun to maximize the collection of solar energy.

"It's amazing, and fun, to see every year their problem solving and critical thinking as they present their future cities," said David Simpson Jr., a Cary engineer and NCSU graduate who serves as the regional coordinator for the competition.

Each finalist team presents its city, then takes questions from a panel of engineers and educators who quiz team members on how, for example, they will accommodate growth.

The competition culminates a special class that the students take in the first half of the school year. Jonathan Schertz, 13, part of the second-place team from Martin Gifted and Talented Magnet Middle School in Raleigh, said the class is a lot more student-directed, which makes the learning fun.

It also teaches team building among classmates, a necessity given the complexity of the models and the visions behind them. Judges wanted the finalists to explain how they learned to work together.

The presenters with the fourth-place team at Centennial Campus Magnet Middle School in Raleigh told the judges one way they moved forward was by cutting ideas that weren't practical.

"We like our imaginations," said Johnson Hansen, 13, of Garner. "But sometimes we can get a little carried away."

Another magnet middle school in Raleigh, Ligon, was the other finalist, finishing third. The school was last year's runner-up.

For parents of the J.M. Alexander students, the first-place finish was also a triumph over adversity. Many of the students went to Davidson International Baccalaureate Middle School, which had won the competition four years running. But Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district officials closed the school last year.

The students also lost their coach, who left the school, and parents said they stepped up their involvement to keep the class going. "The students wanted to show that with all the changes, they can still do it," said Karla Haspel of Huntersville, whose son Markus is on the team.

The key to J.M. Alexander's success this year may well have been the way they observed other teams perform. Unlike the other finalists, J.M. Alexander's team presented their project much like the way an advertising firm might pitch an ad to a major client.

"We heard of a judge sleeping during a presentation," said Raniah Jeanlys, 13, of Charlotte, "and we did not want that to happen to us."