Saratoga High School Student is Intel Science Talent Search Finalist

Saratoga High School student Kevin Garbe is an Intel Science Talent Search finalist, joining local resident Jack Takahashi in sharing the honors.

Kevin, 17, researched geometrical objects called fractals that have applications ranging from cryptography to weather forecasting.

Fractals arise in a wide variety of contexts in mathematics, physics, and biology and have been applied in fields as diverse as cryptography, computer graphics and seismology, said Intel Science Talent Search spokeswoman Maria Culp.

Kevin calculated the fractal dimension for polynomials of small degree over the two element field and proved upper bounds on the dimension in the general case, she said.

Kevin holds a second-degree black belt in tae kwon do and trains young students in the sport, she added.

Passionate about chess, Kevin has competed in more than 130 tournaments and has earned a Class A rating, she said.

He was a member of the Saratoga High School Chess team that won a record six consecutive championships.

A self-acknowledged left-brain thinker, Kevin finds beauty and wonder in exploring the logic of the universe, including “the fractal patterns of the daisies on the field.”