Three First-Years Hit Jackpot in 'Net Contest

Last night, first-years Alok Bhushan, Kendrick N. Kay and Eleanor E. Williams won first prize and $15,000 each in the ThinkQuest Internet Challenge in Universal City, Calif.

The three took top honors in the arts and literature category and beat out 2,289 teams from around the world for their Web page "Totally Tessellated."

"Totally Tessellated," (http://library.advanced.org/16661), which features information on the background, history and application of tessellations in math, science and decoration through the ages, was a collaborative effort that grew out of the three's chance meeting at a summer program two years ago.

The ThinkQuest Internet Challenge, sponsored by Advanced Network and Services, Inc., began three years ago to promote learning through the Internet.

Competing teams consist of two to three students and one to three coaches. This year 34 teams made up 95 students from 18 different countries made it to the finalist round.

This past weekend, the ThinkQuest finalists descended on Universal City for a whirlwind of judging, interviews, Universal City tours and down time at "The Generator: More Than Just a Cyber Cafe."

Williams, who wrote The Crimson an e-mail message from the competition, said the "cafe" contained "four TI connections and forty-plus computers donated by Dell...so that all us computer-addicts, or whatever we are, can check our e-mail."

Besides the $15,000 Bhushan, Kay and Williams each won for their first place finish, the team also received $2,500 each for their former high schools.

Furthermore, Eran A. Mukamel '01 and the other two coaches, Don Hyatt, one of Bhushan's high school teachers, and Lelia K. Williams will each receive $2,500.

Bhushan, Kay and Williams met each other and Mukamel, who is also a Crimson editor, at the Research Science Institute at MIT in 1997.

Later that year, Williams found out about the ThinkQuest competition from her mother and enlisted the help of Bhushan and Kay in creating the web page.

The three communicated via the Internet from their homes across the country--Bhushan in McLean, Va., Kay in Martinez, Ga. and Williams in Palos Verdes, Calif.--to create a web site that includes hands-on activities and templates to make your own tessellations.

The site defines tessellations as "repeating patterns of distinct shapes...which can be broken down to identical sections [that]...repeat throughout the design."

The web site also features a section dedicated to Dutch artist and famous tessellation creator M.C. Escher.

"We wanted to focus on art and math," Kay said. "We considered chaos, music and math and ended up with tessellations in the art category of the competition. It is a subject of some usefulness in geometry and one that most people learn in the classroom."

Williams said tessellations had great potential for the art category of the competition because of the "many nice graphics and illustrations" created by the patterns.

All three contributed to the site's creation, although Kay was the only team member with previous web design experience.

Kay dealt with the images and animations, Williams wrote about Escher and tessellations history and Bhushan authored the section on the advanced applications of tessellations, worked with Java and conducted site testing using different Internet applications.

Beyond winning the arts and literature category of the ThinkQuest competition, "Totally Tessellated" was chosen as a Yahoo! Pick of the Week for the week of September 28, 1998. Science also featured the site in its "NetWatch" columnon October 23 and included a tessellation byEscher from the site.

Furthermore, the site has proven to be a hitwith geometry teachers and students alike. Thesite has recorded almost 22,000 hits thus far

Furthermore, the site has proven to be a hitwith geometry teachers and students alike. Thesite has recorded almost 22,000 hits thus far