Texas teen takes home $100K science prize

WASHINGTON (AP) — A high school student from Texas has won a $100,000 scholarship for scientific work that could help driverless cars and robots navigate around obstacles.

The Siemens Foundation announced the winners of its annual science competition for high school students during a ceremony in Washington on Tuesday. Top individual honors went to 17-year-old Kensen Shi of College Station, Texas. He combined two previous algorithms into a new and more efficient algorithm for navigation.

Top team honors went to a trio of students from Hewlett, N.Y., for their research on a protein involved in tumor formation. Seniors Jeremy Appelbaum, William Gil and Allen Shin will share a $100,000 scholarship.

Six individuals and six teams were competing for the awards.