Albuquerque, April 15, 2010: A student from New Mexico will be able to worry a little less about paying for his college education. Scott Carlsten , a sophomore at Los Alamos High School is the $25,000 Distinguished Award recipient of the EnergySolutions Foundation scholarship. This is in addition to the initial $2,000 scholarship they received from the Foundation earlier this year.
“Because the scholarship program is an extension of our commitment to this great community where EnergySolutions employees live and work, I am so happy for the difference this will make in Scott’s life,” said Val Christensen, CEO of EnergySolutions.
Exemplary students from eligible schools in eight states and Canada were selected to receive a $2,000 merit-based scholarships. All recipients were then entered into the competition for the three Distinguished Awards. Scott was selected from a pool of applicants from Canada, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, and other New Mexico students to receive the additional $25,000 Distinguished Award scholarship which is to be used in math, science, or engineering studies. A student in Georgia was selected to receive the $2,500 Distinguished Award and a student in Washington state was selected to receive the $5,000 award.
The EnergySolutions Foundation began the scholarship program in 2006 as a way to promote the study of math, science, and engineering to encourage the next generation of professionals to seek degrees in biochemistry, biology, chemistry, ecology, engineering, environmental science, geology, geophysics, mathematics, meteorology, or physics. As of this year, EnergySolutions Foundation has awarded 760 scholarships to students in eligible schools.
Scott wants to study theoretical physics at Stanford University. He says that imagination is more important than knowledge because we can always improve what we have (faster computers, better televisions, etc.) but it alone cannot lead to new ways of doing things. Imagination is what takes us to completely new ideas that will impact technology.
In 8th grade he won the regional level of the DOE Science Bowl and placed 5th in the nation. He also was on the 1st place MathCounts team. Last year he competed against all 9th grade students in the state in the Statewide Mathematics Competition and placed 2nd. This year is his the President of the DOE National Science Bowl team.
He is currently taking a full load of AP classes partly to prepare for the next DOE Science Bowl competition. When he wanted to go straight to AP chemistry and bypass advance chemistry, he had to take the mid year and final for that class to see if he would succeed at that level. He read the textbook on his own and only missed one question on one test and none on the other. His AP Physics teacher and Science Bowl Coach says, “he has a very unusual talent for science. I do not think you would find a more brilliant student. It amazes me that he is a sophomore and yet knows so much. He is one of the most remarkable students that I have had during my 20 years of teaching.”
His AP Chemistry teacher says Scott often spends time in class working with other students and he can explain concepts to other students in a way that they can remember what he said. She also says, “Scott will be a leader in science. His brilliance surpasses the many bright students at Lost Alamos High School and he has a genuine love for science.”
“Our goal with the EnergySolutions Foundation scholarship program is to help these motivated students fulfill their desire of a college education,” said Colin Austin, VP for Southwestern Operations, EnergySolutions.
The EnergySolutions Foundation will honor all Washington scholarship recipients at a banquet on Saturday, May 8th at Hotel Albuquerque in Old Town Albuquerque.
For more information about the scholarship program, please contact Pearl Wright at (801) 870-1505 or visit our website at www.energysolutionsfoundation.org.
