by CIO Staff

Calif. Teen Wins Technology Competition

News
Dec 07, 20051 min
IT Leadership

Michael Viscardi, a 16-year-old high school senior from San Diego, won the Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science and Technology on Monday, the Associated Press reports via Yahoo News.

The teenager won for tackling a 19th century math problem deemed the Dirichlet problem, formulated by the mathematician Lejeune Dirichlet.  Viscardi worked with a professor at the University of California, San Diego for six months. The theorem he used to solve the problem has potential applications in a variety of fields, like engineering and physics, and may prove to aid the design of aircraft wings.

Viscardi’s booty includes a $100,000 college scholarship, the top individual prize in the prestigious competition, and trip to the New York Stock Exchange to ring the closing bell when the business day ends on Monday.  A total of 19 students competed in the national finals, 13 of them in teams. Additional finalists won scholarships ranging for $10,000 to $50,000. The teams shared awards.

’’It’s unbelievable,’’ Viscardi said of his achievement.  ’’I’m in shock right now.’’

By Albert Sacco