Larson had submitted a science project report to the Intel Science Talent Search (STS) in November, and on that January day, Intel representatives and school officials filed into a classroom to present both Larson and the school with checks for $1,000 each.

"I was kind of shocked," he said. "It was really weird for all these people to just show up in class and hand me this giant check."

Larson's project, a report called Center of Pulse Energy Receiver for Ultra Wideband Radio, describes his postulation that the supposed interference impulse radio waves have on wireless communications frequency bands could be minimized.

"It's an alternate form of transmitting radio waves," Larson said. "The way impulse waves transmit, [my project] doesn't add to the interference. You don't get mixed signals or signals that cancel each other out and it saves a lot of power."

Larson is no stranger to academic success. He achieved top scores on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test, placing him as a National Merit Scholar, and he has already been accepted by Stanford University.

Intel representatives said that Larson's check is prize money and not exclusively scholarship funds, and Willow Glen High School Principal Elaine Farace said that she isn't sure what the school will do with its $1,000 prize.

"I think I'll consult with Richard as to where the money can go," she said.

This is the first time in recent memory that a Willow Glen High School student has qualified as a semifinalist in the competition.

But Larson's idea was enough to pique the interest of the judges at Science Service, a nonprofit organization that created the Science Talent Search in 1942 as a way to encourage high school students to go into scientific professions. Westinghouse sponsored the annual competition until 1998, when Intel Corporation took it over as part of its Innovation in Education program.

Out of 1,581 entries, Larson's was selected as a semifinalist along with those of 300 other students nationwide. Later this month judges will select 40 finalists, who will be flown to Washington, D.C. to compete for a half-million dollars in college scholarship awards. The top prize is a $100,000 college scholarship.

Mark Pettinger, Intel's communication manager for California, said that most students spend years testing and developing their projects.

"They produce an immense body of work," he said. "Sometimes they submit their projects to other competitions or test them out in science fairs before entering the STS."

Larson said his project took him only about two months, with help from his father, Jeffrey Larson, who is an electrical engineer.

"This was for fun," Larson said. "It was a win-win situation even if I didn't make it as a semifinalist. But if I do become a finalist my attitude might change. I might feel like, 'I gotta win! I gotta win!' "