1. uriosity
nloclis
doors for
dent
The technologywiz is
headedto NASAfor a
summerinternship.
ByDaniDavies·
PalmBeachPostStaffWriter
When his family moved from
Californiato F1orida13years ago,
Chris Cook's mother didn't both-
er with games or books to engage
her 5-year-old son on the long
ride.
Instead, she packed a televi-
sion. Not for watching, but for
dismantling.
That's how
Cook began his
13-year jaunt
toward aca-
demic stardom
- taking apart
TVs like his
grandfather
taught him.
'Then I re-
L...-__.:1--......,.a.L.1 alized I could
Cook do more ifI put
things back to-
gether," Cook said.
F1ash forward to present-day
Cook - an 18-year-old Martin
County High senior who will
graduate next week and go to
NASAfor a summer internship-
and you'll still see a young man
motivated and occupied by his
own curiosity.
He placed third in physics at
the International Science Fair in
May and won a Pathfinder award
in science this month. He has a
list of awards too long to name,
and he runs a computer business
out ofhis bedroom in his parents'
Palm Cityhome.
His parents, Cathy and Bill,
who own a Hawaiian shirt busi-
ness, say he didn't get his know-
how from them.
''We wonder where he came
from," said Cathy Cook.
"Idon't even know howtotum
the computer on," Bill Cook said
as his son tried to explain his sci-

2. 6 MSL THE PALM BEACH POST MONDAY, MAY 31, 1999 3B
Student connects PCs
for supercomputer
COOK
From lB
ence project.
Chris Cook said it deals with
"methods to detect and prove the
existence of gravitational waves
as theorized by Einstein."
Oh, and he used "laser inter-
ferometers" on the five-year
project.
"He has a lot of in-depth sci-
entific knowledge," said Greg
Maxwell,a friend who works as a
computer network specialist for
Martin County. "He may or may
not be smarter, but if anything,
he's using his intelligence far
more than other people his age."
For his science project, Cook
went on the Internet to find and
consult with professors at the
Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology and at CalTech who were
working on similarprojects to his.
When he wasn't able to use
the National Center for Super-
computing Applications for part
of his project, he figured out how
to build his own supercomputer
by hooking about 16 PCs togeth-
er.
Now he'd like to market his
method to small businesses that
wouldn't otherwise be able to af-
ford supercomputers.
Cook's computer expertise is
self-taught. He spent most of his
time in middle school in front ofa
monitor in his room before de-
ciding to have some fun in high
school.
Between science fairs, he
maintains about a 3.0grade point
average. There's also a girlfriend
and a car, a 3000 GT that he
adores.
So what does a teenage sci-
ence wiz with a knack for com-
puters do to a car? He plans to
replace its radio with a computer
that would allowhim to download
about 10,000tunes at a time.
But Cook doesn't consider
himself agenius, awiz kid or even
different from classmates.
'The way I see it is that I just
have different interests," he said.
"I'vejust taken the opportunity to
know more."