Published: April 18, 2002

Grand Junction teenager Ryan Patterson, who has taken top honors in the nation's most prestigious science competitions, is planning to announce his college choice at 4 p.m. today.

Patterson is visiting the University of Colorado at Boulder with his parents, Randy and Sherry Patterson, and two friends who will be attending CU-Boulder in the fall. They will spend the day looking at housing options and meeting privately with faculty and staff at the College of Engineering and Applied Science, where he is considering enrolling in the electrical engineering program.

The 18-year-old has indicated plans to announce his decision at the end of the visit. Reporters and photographers are invited to be present for the announcement, to be made in the Administrative Offices of the Engineering Center on Regent Drive.

Patterson won first prize at the 2002 Siemens Westinghouse Science and Technology Competition, the 2002 Intel Talent Search and the 2001 Intel Young Scientist competition, for his invention of a glove that translates American Sign Language into written words on a computer.Ìý

He also won the 2001 Glen Seaborg Nobel Prize Visit and has been named a Boettcher Scholar. Forbes named Patterson first on its High-Tech Teenage All-America Team, and he has been featured on Good Morning America, National Public Radio and other national media.

Accompanying his awards are thousands of dollars in scholarships, which allow him to attend the school of his choice. He also has been considering Stanford University.

For more information, contact Jim Sullivan in the Center for LifeLong Learning and Design, (303) 492-3912 or Carol Rowe in Engineering Communications, (303) 492-7426.