Econontersect: What Intel Corp. calls the “world’s largest high school science research competition” was won by a 19-year old Romanian, Ionut Budisteanu, at the award ceremnoy in Phoenix, AZ last Friday (17 May 2013). The contest was sponsored by the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a program of Society for Science & the Public. Budisteanu was selected for the top prize from 17 category winners who were determined after judging of 1,600 entires from more than 70 countries. His entry involved the use of artificial intelligence to create a viable model for a low-cost, self-driving car.
Click on photo for larger image of all three top winners at gizmag.
Budisteanu combined a lower cost version of the 3-D radar concept that is the heart of the Google self-driving car and filled in with optical webcams to gain an the high resolution for smaller objects such as curbs and lane marking lines. Three of the 50 operational tests failed , but the invesntor said that a slight improvement in the resolution of the 3-D radar system (still much less costly that the Google system) would have eliminated the problems, according to an article in gizmag.
Budisteanu won the Gordon E. Moore Award which included a cash prize of $75,000.
Two Asian-American students took the second and third place awards. From the Intel Newsroom:
Eesha Khare, 18, of Saratoga, Calif. received the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award of $50,000. With the rapid adoption of portable electronics, Eesha recognized the crucial need for energy-efficient storage devices. She developed a tiny device that fits inside cell phone batteries, allowing them to fully charge within 20-30 seconds. Eesha’s invention also has potential applications for car batteries.
Henry Lin, 17, of Shreveport, La. also received the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award of $50,000. By simulating thousands of clusters of galaxies, Henry has provided scientists with valuable new data, allowing them to better understand the mysteries of astrophysics: dark matter, dark energy and the balance of heating and cooling in the universe’s most massive objects.
The non-Americans, in addition to Budisteanu, who won one of the 17 category awards came from Canada (2) and Japan. The full list from Intel Newsroom:
Click on table for larger image.
Sources:
- Romanian Teenager Wins Big for Low-Cost, Self-Driving Car Innovation (Intel PR, Intel Newsroom, 17 May 2013)
- Romanian teenager takes out $75,000 Intel prize with low-cost, self-driving car system (Darren Quick, gizmag, 20 May 2013)
