Fabian Gafner Wins EU Prize

Fabian Gafner, a 19-year-old from Dürnten (MG Hinwil), won first prize at the European Youth Research Competition in Paris. He presented a model airplane that can fly both forward and backward. By winning first prize in the physics category, Gafner secured prize money of 7,000 euros, as the European Commission announced on Wednesday. He also received a special prize: a five-day visit to the European Patent Office in Munich. Gafner had already been awarded a special prize for his model airplane in April at the “Schweizer Jugend forscht” competition (we reported in detail in

MFS No. 3-09). Gafner competed in the European competition with his one-of-a-kind model airplane, the “Dikranos.” Young people between the ages of 14 and 20 from 38 countries participated in the research competition.

In addition to Europe, the United States, Canada, China, and South Korea, among others, were represented. A total of 87 projects were presented and evaluated by a 17-member scientific jury.