Ayon Sen learned to read when he was only two and a half. Now at 17, he's a bona fide science superstar.
"It was quite a bit of a shock, to be honest. I was quite excited," Sen said.
Sen just returned from California where he won the regional finals of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. Now he and five other of the nation's brightest will compete for the country's biggest science prize for teens.
"I don't think it's going to be easy to find another student that good," Sen's mentor Brian Arbic at the University of Texas said.
It's an understatement for a high school student who's done groundbreaking research on the oceans and Earth's climate.
One of the most basic rules of the universe is that when energy goes in, that same amount of energy has to come out. Sen is researching how that works in the oceans.
"There's a significant amount of energy dissipation that occurs at the bottom of the ocean," Sen said.
That means the friction of water against the ocean floor releases a lot of energy.
"It affects how we understand how the earth maintains its natural temperature," Sen said.
 |  |
 | |  |
| | | | | | | |
Whiz kid
Ayon Sen made it to the finals of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology.
 
| | |
| | | | | |
|
It can also help scientists predict how the Earth's climate will change over the next 100 years, Arbic said.
But Sen isn't thinking that far ahead. For now, he's focused on going to college at Caltech--his dream school.
"We are really proud," Sen's father, Mrinal Sen said.
Sen is also focused on his trip to the Siemen's national finals in New York City.
"The worst could be he's sixth out of 1,500 people in the country, that's the worst he can do," Arbic said.
Sen will fly to New York City on Thursday, where he'll present his research to a panel of judges. The winner will receive a $100,000 scholarship.
