Viscardi tackled a 19th century math problem known as the Dirichlet problem, formulated by the mathematician Lejeune Dirichlet. Viscardi said he worked on it for about six months with a professor at University of California at San Diego (UCSD).

    "He is a super-duper mathematics student," said lead judge Constance Atwell, a consultant and former research director at the National Institutes of Health." It was almost impossible for our judges to figure out the limits of his understanding during our questioning. And he's only 16 years old." 

   The theorem Viscardi created to solve it has potential applications in the fields of engineering and physics, including airplane wing design, experts say.

    Viscardi has been home schooled since fifth grade, although he does take math classes at UCSD three days a week. His father is a software engineer and his mother, who stays at home, has a Ph.D. in neuroscience.

    Nineteen students competed in the national finals ¡ª six individuals and six teams. Besides the winners' prizes, finalists won scholarships ranging from $50,000 to $10,000.    

    Viscardi will be awarded $100,000 in college scholarship. Enditem