Williston senior Dongyang “Don” Cheng ‘11 has qualified as a semifinalist for the 2011 U.S. Physics Olympics Team, the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) announced recently. Don was one of approximately 3,000 students who participated in the first phase of the selection process by taking the “Fnet=ma Exam” in January. As one of only 400 semifinalists nationwide, Don took a second exam in March, the results of which will be used as the basis for selection as a member of the 20-member U.S. Physics Team.
The US Physics Olympiad Program is a joint initiative of AAPT in partnership with the member societies of the American Institute for Physics (AIP): Acoustical Society of America, American Association of Physicists in Medicine, American Astronomical Society, American Crystallographic Society, American Geophysical Union, American Physical Society, AVS, Optical Society America, and the Society of Rheology. Ms. Lauren Benson is Don’s physics teacher. In February, Don was inducted into Williston’s Cum Laude Society.