U.S. Physics Team Wins Five Medals in 2005 International Physics Olympiad

Left to right: Nickolas Fortino, Daniel Whalen, Men Young Lee, Timothy Credo, and Eric Mecklenburg. Photo Credit: Mary Mogge

Representatives of the 2005 US Physics Team won five medals at the 36^th International Physics Olympiad held July 3-12 in Salamanca, Spain. Eric Mecklenburg of Gates Mills, Ohio, and Men Young Lee of Alexandria, Virginia, were awarded gold medals. Timothy Credo of Aurora, Illinois, and Nickolas Fortino of Andover, Massachusetts both received silver medals, and Daniel Whalen, also of Andover, won the bronze medal.

The Olympiad is an international competition among pre-university students from more than 70 nations. The goals of the Olympiad are to encourage excellence in physics education and to reward outstanding physics students. Competitors are asked to solve challenging theoretical and experimental physics problems. The 24 members of the US Physics Team are selected through two competitive examinations.

The members of the team met at the University of Maryland for an intensive one-week training camp May 14-23. At the end of the training camp, five members were selected to represent the US Physics Team: Credo, Fortino, Lee, Mecklenberg, and Whalen.

From 1986 to 2005, the United States Teams have brought home 26 gold medals, 20 silver medals, 26 bronze medals, and 11 honorable mentions.