Prize Recipient

Daniel A. Casanova

Background:

My family has moved around a lot during my lifetime, mostly up and down the east coast from Delaware to Florida. We currently reside in Richmond, VA, and I will be attending James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA this fall as a Physics major. During my high school career, I've enjoyed swimming competitively, rock climbing, hiking, and Ultimate Frisbee. I plan to continue with all of these sports in college, particularly Ultimate Frisbee.

Even as a young child I often wondered how things worked and tried to puzzle out the principles behind them. What makes an airplane fly or a car stick to the road or keep a satellite in orbit? Bernoulli's principle, friction, and gravity fascinate me. My first encounter with physics' concepts happened in a Statics course my father was teaching at a local community college. Given my incessant questions growing up and his own personal love for physics, he thought I might enjoy certain parts of the course. Although much of the math was over my head (I was only 12 at the time), the science concepts thrilled me.

In college I want to continue studying this fundamental science. After college I think I would enjoy working in research and development of new products and manufacturing processes. Perhaps someday another little kid will look at something I've designed and wonder what makes it work.