Teen Geniuses Win Top Honors and Science Glory at Intel Science Talent Search 2015

Last edited Fri Mar 20, 2015, 04:29 PM - Edit history (1)

Hat tip: Montgomery Gazette: N. Bethesda teen wins $150K in science contest

Blair High senior studied interaction of phonons and electrons
by Robert Rand Staff writer
This story was updated at 10:30 a.m. March 16, 2015.

Michael Winer of North Bethesda, a senior at Blair High School in Silver Spring, won $150,000 on March 10 Michael Winer is a winner. ... The North Bethesda senior at Blair High School in Silver Spring won $150,000 on March 10 in the annual Intel Science Talent Search, a pre-college science and math competition and a program of Society for Science & the Public.

Winer, 18, won in the Innovation category for his problem-solving aptitude through innovative design and creativity, according to an Intel news release. ... Winer studied how fundamental quasi-particles of sound, called phonons, interact with electrons. His work could be applied to more complex atomic structures such as superconductors.
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So what will he do with his winnings?

“I don’t know yet,” said Winer, the son of a lawyer and stay-at-home mom who formerly programmed computers. “Probably a combination of education and swimming pools full of quarters,” a reference to Scrooge McDuck. ... That education will be at one of the nation’s top universities. Winer said he’s been accepted at the Massachusetts and California institutes of technology and expects to hear soon from Harvard University.

Posted by IntelPR in Intel Newsroom on Mar 10, 2015 6:23:46 PM

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 10, 2015 – America's most promising young scientists were celebrated tonight in the nation's capital as they received more than $1 million in awards from Intel Corporation. These scientists are the winners of the Intel Science Talent Search, the nation's most prestigious pre-college science and math competition and a program of Society for Science & the Public (SSP).

Starting this year, the Intel Science Talent Search tripled the top awards to further recognize finalists and highlight the variety of research conducted. In place of the previous grand prize of $100,000, three first-place Medal of Distinction awards of $150,000 were presented to students who showed exceptional scientific potential in three categories: Basic Research, Global Good, and Innovation.

Noah Golowich, 17, of Lexington, Massachusetts, won the First Place Medal of Distinction for Basic Research, which recognizes finalists who demonstrate exceptional scientific potential through depth of research and analysis. Noah developed a proof in the area of Ramsey theory, a field of mathematics based on finding types of structure in large and complicated systems. He is the captain of his high school math team, plays for his high school tennis team and plays jazz piano in his spare time.

Andrew Jin, 17, of San Jose, California, won the First Place Medal of Distinction for Global Good, which rewards finalists who demonstrate great scientific potential through their passion to make a difference. Andrew developed a machine learning algorithm to identify adaptive mutations across the human genome. By analyzing massive public genomic datasets, his system discovered more than 100 adaptive mutations related to immune response, metabolism, brain development and schizophrenia in real DNA sequences. Understanding the genetic causes of these diseases is an important first step toward developing gene therapies or vaccines. Andrew is an accomplished pianist who has performed at Carnegie Hall.

Michael Hofmann Winer, 18, of North Bethesda, Maryland, won the First Place Medal of Distinction for Innovation, which celebrates finalists who demonstrate the problem-solving aptitude of an engineer through innovative design and creativity. Michael studied how fundamental quasi-particles of sound, called phonons, interact with electrons. His work could potentially be applied to more complex atomic structures such as superconductors. Michael was a silver medalist at the 2014 International Physics Olympiad, where he was the top-scoring U.S. student on the theoretical exam.