60th Annual STS (2000–2001)
Finalists
Vladimir Sergei Novakovski

VIRGINIA
Vladimir Sergei Novakovski, 15, of Springfield, submitted a physics project on neural networks to the Intel Science Talent Search. Neural networks mimic the way nerve cells are connected in the human brain and are important for understanding how the brain performs complex tasks, such as pattern recognition. For his project, Vladimir designed a neural network using optics, with light beams as neurons and holograms as interconnects. Then he proposed a way to design the optimal holograms for a given network and outlined further developments and uses for the optical neural computer. Vladimir, a native of Russia, attends Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria where he participates in the science, engineering and quiz bowl clubs. He placed first internationally at the USA Computing Olympiad Fall Open and Winter Open 2000 with perfect scores, and he was invited to represent the United States in the Baltic Olympiad in Informatics in both 1999 and 2000. The son of Dr. Sergei Novakovski and Elena Novakovskaia, he hopes to attend MIT with a triple major in physics, math and computer science.