Wins Scholarship For His Answer To The Dirichlet Problem

Michael Viscardi may have the answer to a 200-year-old question: how to build a better wing. The California teen isn't sharing the details at the moment -- which is fine for us, as we're still trying to figure out how many orders Boeing REALLY has for 2005 -- but suffice to say, the answer could lead to even more efficient aircraft wing designs.

For his efforts, 16-year-old Viscardi had won a $100,000 college scholarship in a high-school science competition. What won Viscardi the prize was his answer to a 19th century math stumper known as the Dirichlet problem, formulated by the mathematician Lejeune Dirichlet.

According to the Seattle Times, Viscardi's theorem to solve the problem has potential applications in engineering and physics, including airplane wing design. The teen says it tool him about six months, working with a University of California-San Diego professor, to figure it out.

And the answer? Well... it's complicated (carry the one... 1840 airplanes? That can't be right...)

"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," said lead judge Constance Atwell, a consultant and former research director at the National Institutes of Health.

Viscardi -- who has been home-schooled since the fifth grade, although he takes advanced math classes three times a week at UCSD -- is, understandably, excited about his win.

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

FMI: www.britannica.com/eb/article-9030603