Charlestown High School Student Claims Top Prize at Second Annual "Power of an Idea" Scholarship Event.

Student earns $15,000 scholarship and patent services from Burns & Levinson LLP 

BOSTON -- An innovative senior from Charlestown High School took first-place honors in the Second Annual Power of an Idea[R] Scholarship Contest sponsored by Boston-based law firm Burns & Levinson LLP.

Zhong Gao, who invented a robotic joint different from those that exist, earned a $15,000 scholarship to be used for tuition and expenses for higher education beyond high school and legal patent services from Burns & Levinson.

Judges commended Gao's invention--a wooden working prototype of a robotic joint that stands about 18 inches high and rotates in various directions--for its creativity and ingenuity. Judges said the invention appears to overcome many problems associated with existing joints/arms because it can easily attain many degrees of movement. The joint has the ability to be used in several engineering applications.

"This invention has real potential in the marketplace," said David Gomes, an intellectual property attorney at Burns & Levinson, during a ceremony before about 400 students assembled Friday at Charlestown High School. "Zhong showed considerable creativity and determination in developing this invention."

Gao, who arrived from China two years ago, will attend Brown University in the fall. Gao told his classmates that he expects to continue inventing. "I plan to continue my enthusiasm in inventing in the engineering world and hopefully file more patents," said Gao. "My true desire to invent stems from wanting to solve the problems that trouble society so I anticipate I'll be inventing for the rest of my life."

David P. Rosenblatt, managing partner for Burns & Levinson, noted that the firm's dual mission for creating the scholarship was "to create a business and educational climate that fosters creativity" and as a way to support Boston pubic schools. "It's important that the spirit of invention be passed on to the next generation of Boston school children," said Rosenblatt.

Dr. W. Peter Hansen, one of the judges for the contest, told the assembly that he is very pleased with the number of applicants in the contest this year. There were nearly twice as many entrants this year over last year. "It's so nice to see technology innovation in Boston schools to be repeated once again this year," said Hansen, chief science officer for PointCare Technologies Inc. of Marlborough, a company that builds and distributes blood testing systems to help manage AIDS therapies.

Students of Boston public high schools and charter schools (grades 9 - 12) were invited to participate in the scholarship contest. Initially more than 40 students throughout Boston filed applications to participate and 10 students ultimately submitted final reports describing the details and the beneficial use of their inventions.

First runner-up, Kiana Jacobs, is being provided up to $1,000 from Burns & Levinson to build a prototype. PointCare has arranged for assistance with helping her build the model with Donald Barry of Medicept, a contract engineering company.

Six other Boston public high school students received certificates of participation from Burns & Levinson, certificates of commendation from Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, and gift certificates to Boston's Museum of Science from Burns & Levinson during the ceremony. They were Jerry Alcius, a senior at the Community Academy; and Li Chen, Phong Hua, Catherine Mui, Nhu Nguyen and Nayara Silva, all juniors at the John D. O'Bryant School of Math & Science.

Other judges for the contest were Jacob N. Erlich, partner at Burns & Levinson; Jerry Cohen, partner and Co-Chair of Intellectual Property Group at Burns & Levinson; Dr. Petra Krauledat, president and CEO of PointCare Technologies; Dr. Hansen, CSO of PointCare Technologies; and Ronald Contrado, CEO of Homisco, Inc.

About Burns & Levinson

Burns & Levinson, with 120 attorneys in four offices in New England, as well as one in Washington, D.C., is a full-service Boston-based business law firm. The firm has grown steadily and strategically throughout the years and has become a premier New England-based business law firm with regional, national and international clientele. The firm has expertise in corporate law, finance, venture capital, private equity, tax, bankruptcy, lending and leasing, real estate, intellectual property - including patent law, and business litigation. Burns & Levinson also has a large private clients group that services clients in the areas of estate planning, probate and trust litigation, divorce and other family law issues. In addition, the firm has a wholly-owned subsidiary office in Montreal, Quebec to service its Canadian clients. For more information, visit Burns & Levinson at www.burnslev.com.