Ionuț Budișteanu

Ionuț Alexandru Budișteanu (born 1 December 1993) is a Romanian child prodigy, known for his prolific activity in the field of Computer Sciences. He is the recipient of the 2013 Gordon E. Moore Award, the grand prize of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair and an Ambassador of the Romanian Tourism.^[1]

Life and career

Born in Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania, Ionuț received his first computer at the age of 3, which he quickly learned how to play on.^[2] He recalled that by the age of 4 he felt comfortable with gaming and was attached to his computer. After having played hundreds of games, he came up with the idea of making his own games in the 3rd grade, and became interested in 3D computer-generated imagery.^[3] He started programming his first computer applications, and around the time he was 9 years old he stopped going out for play. As his passion deepened, pushing him into such episodes as falling asleep with his head on the keyboard at night, his parents did not disapprove of his work, as they thought he was spending time with a good reason.^[2] He also began participating in IT competitions.

In his 9th grade, he was invited to assist the Turing Prize Awards held by the Association for Computing Machinery, where he also was awarded a prize. He was invited to start university studies early, as a student of the San Francisco University, an offer which he denied because he was "too young, too far away from [his] parents".^[2] He moved his studies to another high school after a scandal was sparked when some teachers who had received insults via email claimed they were sent by Ionuț while exploiting the vulnerabilities of wireless routers. He strongly rejected these accusations, mentioning that he had explained these vulnerabilities a few days earlier in front of an audience among whom there were some of his teachers.^[3] In the 11th grade, he denied an internship offer from Google Switzerland, claiming that he wanted to work independently.^[2][3] Apart from Computer Science, he was not particularly good at the other school subjects and was bullied by high school mates, as well as some of his teachers.^[3]

He became particularly interested in technologies concerning artificial intelligence; he devised a computer program along with a specialised device which allows people who have lost their vision to vaguely distinguish forms and luminosities, by means of a chip placed on the tongue.^[3] Later, he started work on a self-driving car, receiving sponsoring from the Dan Voiculescu Foundation, which had also been granting Ionuț a special scholarship for some time. He also won the first prize at the 2013 Intel Awards and MIT named an asteroid after him.^[4]

After finishing high school, Ionuț became a student at the University of Bucharest.

Ionuț affirmed his firm belief in God,^[3] having been raised as an Orthodox Christian, and was seen making the sign of the cross as his name was announced as the winner of the 2013 Intel Awards.^[5]

During a television interview, he admitted he did not indulge almost at all in cultural or social activities throughout his high school years, focusing heavily on reading technical courses and academic papers, many freely available on the internet, after he finished studying the complete Computer Science high school curricula during 7th grade.^[3] His literary culture is scarce^[3] and he also stated he never dreams.^[6] He is an advocate of open technologies, claiming that patents are harmful and hamper development and the enjoyment of technology by masses.

On July 7, 2014, he was awarded an honorary diplomatic passport in a ceremony organized by the Government of Romania.^[7]

Also at the beginning of August, Ionuț announced via his blog his intention of launching his first startup company, seeking to create a massive production line for 'pick and place' machines, which place SMD chips on Printed Circuit Boards.^[8] After a few weeks working to this project, he successfully built the first prototype of the Pick and Place machine called VisionBot. He also built a website for this project that can be accessed from visionbot.net where anyone can download for free the advanced Computer Vision Software. In the following months, Ionut Alexandru Budisteanu is looking to start a hardware Kickstarter campaign in order to bring the machine to the makers world.

On October 2, 2014, Ionut was nominated as one of the most outstanding challengers who are leading world-class innovation from Central and Eastern Europe according to the New Europe 100 list.^[9]

Young Research Scholarship

On 23 May 2013, immediately after he arrived in Romania Ionut Budişteanu from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair at Victoria Palace, the Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta had initiated a scholarship program for Romanian Olympians. Initially the scholarship was named "Ionut Budisteanu Scholarships". At the official ceremony held at the Victoria Palace, on April 3, 2014, in the presence of Prime Minister Victor Ponta, Ionut Budişteanu had signed the financing contract for "Young Researcher Scholarship". The scholarship, which has a total of 15 beneficiaries is dedicated to high school graduates with outstanding results achieved at the Olympics or international competitions for innovation, the Prime Minister said.^[10][11]

Minor Planet 28854 Budisteanu

28854 Budisteanu

28854 Budisteanu (provisional designation: 2000 JP₅₆) is a main-belt asteroid discovered on May 6, 2000 by LINEAR Program of MIT Lincoln Laboratory at the Socorro observatory site in New Mexico. The Minor Planet (28854) Budisteanu is named for Ionut Alexandru Budisteanu in recognition of achievement as a top award winner in the 2013 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a high school science competition of Society for Science & the Public and Intel Foundation.^[12][13] At this competition, in 2013 Ionut Alexandru Budisteanu won also the Gordon E. Moore award - the grand award. More details about the 28854 Budisteanu minor planet can be accessed on the The International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center portal .

Hackerville

Ionut Budişteanu was born and raised until the age of 19 years in Râmnicu Vâlcea. In all of this time, Ionut tried to promote computer science and programming in the city but through positive facts. It is well known that the city is titled also as "Hackerville" for the high rate of cyber crime. Ionuț is a good example of what a computer scientist means. Ionut Budişteanu campaigned against hackers and cyber criminals from his city and country in media interviews. Now, two computer science laboratories were named with Ionut Budisteanu's name at Colegiul National "Mircea cel Batran" and Liceul Tehnologic Oltchim because Ionut had confirmed that anyone can achieve international recognition through doing good works and not only doing cyber crimes.

References

External links

• Budisteanu.net, personal web site