This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English EducationReport.

A seventeen-year-old boy from the northeastern state ofMassachusetts has won the top prize in the Intel Science TalentSearch. The competition is the oldest program in the United Statesthat honors the science projects of high school students. The IntelScience Talent Search is sixty-three years old this year.

The winners receive a new computer and money for a collegeeducation. A record one-thousand-six-hundred-fifty-two students fromforty-six states entered projects for the competition this year.Their research involved nearly every area of science, includingchemistry, medicine, physics, mathematics, engineering, computerscience and social science.

Forty students were invited to Washington, D.C. for the finaljudging. A group of well-known scientists judged them on theirresearch abilities, critical thinking skills and creativity. Thejudges also questioned the students about scientific problems beforedeciding on the winners.

The top winner is Herbert MasonHedberg of North Attleboro, Massachusetts. He receivedone-hundred-thousand dollars for his college education. He developeda faster, more effective method to tell if a person has cancer. Heexplored a way to separate telomerase, an enzyme found in mostcancer cells. His findings have helped advance research into ways ofstopping cancer cells from growing. Herbert said he started theproject after watching his grandmother struggle against cancer. Heplans to be a doctor and continue doing medical research.

The second place winner is seventeen-year-old Boris Alexeev ofAthens, Georgia. He received a seventy-five-thousand dollarscholarship. His research in computer science could be used in thestudy of genetics.

The third place winner is seventeen-year-old Ryna Karnik ofAloha, Oregon. She won fifty-thousand dollars for describing a newway to build microchips used in computers.

Andrew Yeager of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center waschairman of the judges for the Intel Science Talent Search thisyear. He said the competition is an excellent way to discover futureleaders in science and technology. Past competition winners havegone on to receive many of the world's highest honors for scienceand mathematics.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by NancySteinbach. This is Steve Ember.