Top OK Physics Student Meets with OK Members of Congress

College Park, MD (May 23, 2007) -HaoFei Wei of Broken Arrow, OK, one of
the top 24 physics students in the country, met today with Sen. James
Inhofe (R), Sen. Tom Coburn (D) and Rep. John Sullivan (R -1st).

Wei met with his members of Congress as one of the activities of the
U.S. Physics Team's training camp. For ten days the students study
advanced physics principles, take exams and hear lectures from prominent
physicists at the University of Maryland in College Park. Five students
from the U.S. team will be chosen to represent the U.S. at an
international physics competition.

But the time at camp is not only spent on physics: the students also
visited the nation's capital to meet with their senators and
representatives. This helps them learn to communicate important science
to legislators and others who don*t usually hear about science. The
in-person meeting helps remind members of Congress of the importance of
science and math education in the U.S.

Wei gave his members of Congress a toy car that is propelled by
potential energy stored in a flywheel. Flywheels have been used to store
energy for spacecraft and to power buses. The car carried a flyer that
said Science Drives Innovation.

Picture captions:
HaoFei Wei of Broken Arrow, OK, one of the top 24 physics students in
the country, and Rep. John Sullivan (R -1st).
HaoFei Wei of Broken Arrow, OK, one of the top 24 physics students in
the country, and Sen. James Inhofe (R).
HaoFei Wei of Broken Arrow, OK, one of the top 24 physics students in
the country, and Sen. Tom Coburn (D).

The U.S. Physics Olympiad Program was started in 1986 by the American
Association of Physics Teachers to promote and demonstrate academic
excellence. The training camp is sponsored by the AAPT and the American
Institute of Physics, College Park, MD.

MORE ON THE WEB

*       Main website of the U.S. Physics Team:
http://www.aapt.org/olympiad2007/
*       Bios of each student are available online at:
http://www.aapt.org/olympiad2007/team.cfm
*       History of the physics team, including past winners, is
available at: http://www.aapt.org/Contests/olympiad.cfm
*       The official website of the International Physics Olympiad,
hosted by the Iranian team: http://www.ipho2007.ir
*       Screening exams the students had to pass to place on the U.S.
Physics Team: http://www.compadre.org/psrc/evals/olympiad.cfm

CONTACT: Martha J. Heil, American Institute of Physics mheil@aip.org
626-354-5613 (cell)