(image: Clive Ralph)
Eighteen year old Stan Roache (above) has won both the inaugural Prime Minister's Future Scientist Prize, as well as the Supreme Award in the Realise the Dream Competition, for his original work on the physics of light.
He has created mathematical models to predict why we see bands and rings when looking down a shiny metal tube, research which began when he competed in the 2009 International Young Physicists Tournament (IYPT). He believes that his modelling of why the rings start to distort when the viewer moves to the side of the tube is a world first, as does his former science teacher, Kent Hogan (right).
Stan Roache finished Year 13 at Onslow College last year and is now completing a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Physics, at the University of Auckland. His prize money of $50,000 will form a scholarship to pay for his tertiary studies.
