Lisa Bell, Central Floridian of the Week

A local student is getting big honors in the nation's premier high school science competition.
  
Charles Doyle is not only super smart, but he's representing all of Florida. Doyle is from Orlando.

News 13's Lisa Bell introduces us to our Central Floridian of the Week.

Charles Doyle, 17, is a senior at Lake Highland Prep in Orlando.

He became a finalist in this year's Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology.

It's one of the most prestigious science competition's in the United States, and Doyle has definitely earned a place of honor among the nation's best and brightest.
 
This year over 1,600 high school students entered the competition with a record number of projects submitted.

“My project is an optical-material engineering project and I hope that one day this technology is going to be able to change lasing waving lengths in a variety of uses either medical surgery or industry or display technologies. Basically what it does is any time you need multiple lasers, with this technology you can just have one laser,” said Doyle.

Doyle was a regional runner up. His project received the nod from esteemed scientists at six leading research universities. It also earned him $3,000 in scholarships.

“It feels great,” Doyle said. “The Siemens competition is a really good opportunity for me to get my research out there, but also really it seems like the Nobel Prize of high school science."

Past Siemens winners have done the extraordinary: developed a device to generate electricity from ocean waves, identified the genetic mutations that cause cystic fibrosis and even mapped genetic make up of rice.

That’s why Siemens finalist and Lake Highland Prep senior Charles Doyle is our Central Floridian of the Week.

If you would like to see this or other Central Floridians of the Week, tune to News 13 On Demand, Digital Cable Channel 313.