After a week of anticipation in Arizona ahead of the grand finale of Intel ISEF, the winner of the 2013 competition has been announced: nineteen year old Ionut Budisteanu from Romania!
The teenager’s design for an autonomous car – which would cost only $4,000 – impressed the judges, winning Ionut the $75,000 prize. His research revealed that 87 percent of crashes resulted from driver error[i] and his self-driving car, fitted with 3-D radar and mounted cameras which could detect traffic lanes and curbs, offered a feasible and affordable solution.
The success of candidates from Europe, Middle East and Africa didn’t stop there; 33 other students across 22 countries from this region also won awards.
All in all, it was fantastic week and it was great to see so many young people coming together to celebrate innovation and entrepreneurship in science and maths; skills which are imperative for global economic growth and advancing society.
For more information on the winners and Ionut’s autonomous car, visit the ISEF 2013 website here.
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[i] A study using British and American crash reports as data (Ionut’s research)
