RI student wins award in national Siemens Competition

Joseph Zurier

On Nov. 21 and 22, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) scholars headed to Atlanta, Georgia, to participate in the 2014 Siemens Competition Regional Finals, a prestigious research competition. Joseph Zurier, a Providence resident, was one of four students named National Finalists in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology. Besides earning top honors, Zurier was awarded a $3,000 individual scholarship for his project, “Generalizations of the Joints Problem.”

On Dec. 9, Zurier won second place in the national competition, which came with a $50,000 college scholarship. He is the first Rhode Island student ever to qualify for the national level of the Siemens Competition, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. In 2014, a record 4,428 students registered and submitted 1,784 projects for consideration. Renowned scientists from six leading research universities judged the entries.

A senior at Classical High School in Providence, Zurier says he loves science because of its ability to improve the human condition. He thinks that “we’ve advanced tremendously in just centuries, decades even, on the back of technology.” Mentored by Ben Yang, a Ph.D. student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Zurier solved an open problem in counting the number of intersections of lines and planes in space. In addition, he showed that a certain number of lines cannot create too many joints. Zurier’s findings will affect digital image processing in general computer science and medical imaging.

Zurier has been admitted early action to Harvard University, and he’s also applying to Stanford University and MIT. Currently, he leads his school’s math team and is captain of the state American Regions Mathematics League. While math is his favorite subject because it’s creative and philosophically universal, he also enjoys sports, including running and playing tennis. This summer, Zurier plans to give back to the community by becoming a junior counselor at the Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists. Like his father, who fostered his love of math and science at a young age by teaching him tricks and problems, Zurier will inspire future mathematicians.