A student at Wallaceburg District Secondary School has earned an “incredible” mark at an international physics competition.
Eric VanDommelen, 18, scored in the top eight per cent out of approximately 6,000 students world-wide in the Sir Isaac Newton Physics Competition.
“It’s very challenging questions,” VanDommelen said. “It uses the same principles of what we learn in class, but it takes it up to a completely other level, where you can combine four different units into one question. It could be anything from a goat falls over a cliff and there is a line that is created from a helicopter through that goat to a point on the cliff… and you’ll have to figure out what the angle is. It can become very complicated, very quickly.”
VanDommelen’s teacher at WDSS Laura Cumming said when a student does this well, it give reason to celebrate.
“I want to give Eric an incredible amount of credit, he’s naturally gifted but he is also hard-working,” she said. “This combination usually means a very successful result.”
Cumming said the Wallaceburg school has done well the past two years.
“We are very fortunate, we had Troy Babcock and Lisa Grant, who also scored in the top 10 per cent last year,” she said. “This is completely unheard of, for the 11 or 12 years we have been running it, this is an incredible feat.”
Cumming said the contest is run through the University of Waterloo. but includes students from all over the globe.
“The top score on the test was from Beijing,” she said. “It is such a challenging competition and it truly does separate those who can’t only apply physics concepts but also think of their feet.”
Cumming added this accomplishment is something VanDommelen can be proud of and carry with him moving forward.
“Not only is this a notch on his belt or a sign of respect, but it is something you could definitely put on a resume and people who are in that industry would recognize,” she said. “If he could do that well, he could apply those skills to many other situations. People in the field would respect that… this is an incredible feat.”
VanDommelen said the achievement confirms with him the career path he wants to take.
“I tend to be a very logical thinker and that is what physics requires,” he said. “I’m looking into a career path that involves physics and engineering.”
VanDommelen is currently in his fifth year at WDSS and plans on attending Lambton College in September to study in the chemical power and production engineering technician program.
