A FALLING apple led Newton to gravity, and an art class paint palette led 16-year-old Yao Yue of Shanghai to a new optical computing method that won him a first prize at the 65th Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Yao, a junior at the Jiading campus of the High School affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, took top honors in the computer science category earlier this month in the Los Angeles competition.

“I held my breath as they announced prize winners from the bottom to the top,” he said. “I couldn’t believe I won.”