LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) Organizers of the New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge say two high school students from Albuquerque have taken the top prize at this year's competition. La Cueva High School's Eli Echt-Wilson and Albert Zuo came up with a unique model that simulates the growth of individual tree branches and leaves based on underlying biological processes.
Second place went to Cole Kendrick of Los Alamos High School. He developed a computer model simulating classical explosions in certain stars. Ian Rankin, Ahmed Muhyi and Sophia Sanchez-Maes from Las Cruces' Young Women in Computing took third place for their microalgae project.
Los Alamos National Laboratory puts on the challenge each year. It's open any New Mexico high school, middle school or elementary school student. More than 240 students representing 70 teams researched projects this year.
