Numbers

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SOJOURNER
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Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2005 10:32 am

Numbers

Post by SOJOURNER »

For fans of the TV show Numbers, here's a real life math genius:



16-Year-Old Wins Science Scholarship

By JUAN-CARLOS RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - A 16-year-old California boy won a premier high school science competition Monday for his innovative approach to an old math problem that could help in the design of airplane wings.

Michael Viscardi, a senior from San Diego, won a $100,000 college scholarship, the top individual prize in the Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science and Technology.

Viscardi said he's been homeschooled since fifth grade, although he does take math classes at the University of California at San Diego three days a week. His father is a software engineer and his mother, who stays at home, has a Ph.D. in neuroscience, he said.

"It's unbelievable," Viscardi said of his win. "It's so incredible that I'm in shock right now."

Viscardi tackled a 19th century math problem known as the Dirichlet problem, formulated by the mathematician Lejeune Dirichlet. The theorem Viscardi created to solve it has potential applications in the fields of engineering and physics, including airplane wing design. He said he worked on it for about six months with a professor at UCSD.

"He is a super-duper mathematics student," said lead judge Constance Atwell, a consultant and former research director at the National Institutes of Health. "It was almost impossible for our judges to figure out the limits of his understanding during our questioning. And he's only 16 years old," she said.

The Siemens Foundation, founded in 1998, aims to increase access to higher education among gifted students studying math, science and technology. The foundation distributes nearly $2 million annually in scholarships and awards.

Nineteen students competed in the national finals — six individuals and six teams. Besides the winners' $100,000 prizes, finalists won scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. Team members share awards.

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On the Net:

Siemens Foundation: http://www.siemens-foundation.org
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Tombstone
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Numbers

Post by Tombstone »

Very cool! Thanks for this post!
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chonsigirl
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Numbers

Post by chonsigirl »

Wow, that's cool! Math rules!
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Galbally
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Post by Galbally »

God, I hate little kids that are good at maths cause I am not very good, and if I was my plans for world intergration and differentiation would have come to fruition long ago, fair play to him though, always good to see the talent coming through, thinking of that, I met my ex-tutor today in the supermarket, he just smiled sadly and nodded, yes yes, he knows me only too well.
"We are never so happy, never so unhappy, as we imagine"



Le Rochefoucauld.



"A smack in the face settles all arguments, then you can move on kid."



My dad 1986.
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