Louis Eric Wasserman

MARYLAND

Louis Eric Wasserman, 17, of Derwood, studied the lower bound of the number of gates needed to compute explicit functions for combinatorial mathematical models for his Intel Science Talent Search project in computer science. Using only AND and OR gates (monotone circuits), Louis produced the first exact characterization of P, a class of problems that can be solved in polynomial time by a computer. This accomplishment suggested a possible solution to NP - problem sets with polynomial verifiers, such as those used in encryption - and may answer daunting questions such as, "Is there a possibility of efficiently breaking through the encryption security that protects our credit cards during Internet purchases?" The son of Robert and Lori Wasserman, Louis attends Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring where he is president of the computer club, chief copy editor for the online newspaper and plays Ultimate Frisbee. Volunteer for The Dwelling Place, a national finalist in the USA Computing Olympiad and recipient of many awards in computer science and math, Louis hopes to study both subjects in college, calling mathematics "the supreme accomplishment of mankind."