Meet Connor Hill, the 17-year-old who cracked a 3D geometry puzzle — and won ₹2.39 crore
Polyhedra are three-dimensional shapes made from flat polygonal faces and straight edges. Cubes, pyramids and octahedrons are some familiar examples.
- Aug 19, 2026,
- Updated Aug 19, 2026 8:00 AM IST
At 17, Connor Hill has managed to turn an obscure geometry problem into a prize worth $250,000 (around ₹2.39 crore). The student from Port Matilda, Pennsylvania, used a custom computer program to classify every possible version of a rare group of three-dimensional shapes, solving a long-standing mathematical problem in the process, according to a report by The Times of India.
Hill won the top prize at the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search, one of the oldest and most prestigious science and mathematics competitions for high school seniors in the United States.
His work established that there are exactly 146 isolated examples of the highly symmetrical shapes known as noble polyhedra, alongside two infinite structural families.
The announcement was made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Society for Science at a black-tie ceremony at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
Don't Miss: Meet Lakshmanan Meyyappan, the 21-year-old who became the world’s youngest Chartered Accountant at 16
The geometry problem Connor Hill set out to solve
Polyhedra are three-dimensional shapes made from flat polygonal faces and straight edges. Cubes, pyramids and octahedrons are some familiar examples.
A polyhedron is called noble when it has a high level of symmetry. Every face must have the same shape, while every vertex, or corner, must have the same arrangement of faces.
Noble polyhedra, however, can be considerably more complicated than familiar Platonic solids. They can include unusual and even self-intersecting shapes, making their complete classification a much harder mathematical challenge.
Mathematicians had already identified two infinite families of noble polyhedra. But the complete number of individual, isolated examples remained unknown.
By 2020, researchers had confirmed 61 isolated examples, but they believed more could exist because of increasingly complicated combinations of symmetry.
Hill tackled the problem by creating a computer program capable of systematically examining the possible geometric arrangements.
Rather than searching through an endless number of three-dimensional shapes directly, he translated the problem into algebraic equations, including polynomial equations. This reduced the problem to a finite set of possibilities that could be checked computationally.
The exhaustive search showed that there are exactly 146 isolated noble polyhedra, in addition to the two known infinite families.
‘I could narrow it down to a finite set’
Hill's interest in the problem began through his involvement in an online geometry community, where the classification of noble polyhedra had been discussed as an open mathematical challenge.
Explaining his approach, Hill said:
"By translating the problem into a different mathematical framework, I could narrow it down to a finite set that could actually be solved."
For Hill, the significance of mathematics goes beyond solving a single problem. He believes mathematical thinking can help researchers break down complicated scientific questions.
"Science gives us the concepts, but math allows us to formalize them and apply them. When we're solving big problems, the key is breaking them into smaller pieces that math can address. Often, breakthroughs happen when someone connects ideas across disciplines."
Dr. Henry Wei, Executive Director of Development Innovation at Regeneron, pointed out that Hill's approach of breaking a complicated problem into smaller, solvable parts is similar to methods used in modern biomedical research.
Scientists use mathematical models to study problems such as protein folding, disease development and how drugs interact with the body.
Hill hopes his computational method can eventually be used to study compound polyhedral structures and connected geometric networks.
Other teenagers also won major science prizes
The 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search awarded more than $1.8 million to 40 high school finalists. The finalists were selected from thousands of students who applied from across the United States.
Second place and a $175,000 prize went to 17-year-old Edward Kang of Hackensack, New Jersey. Kang developed an artificial intelligence screening tool called RetinaMind.
Kang trained machine learning models using retinal scans to identify subtle blood vessel patterns associated with autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He also created cellular models to study related genetic changes.
Third place and a $150,000 prize went to 17-year-old Iris Shen of The Woodlands, Texas. Shen studied possible treatments for blood cancer using clams as a testing model. She observed cellular responses that were similar to those seen in human drug trials.
Maya Ajmera, President and CEO of Society for Science and Executive Publisher of Science News, praised the finalists in an official statement.
"Congratulations to the winners of this year's Regeneron Science Talent Search. Their bold vision and perseverance reveal what the next generation of problem solvers truly looks like and why our future is in capable hands. Their creativity, ambition and courage to confront the world's toughest challenges are exactly what this moment demands."
Regeneron also highlighted the importance of supporting young researchers. Dr. George D. Yancopoulos, co-founder, Board Co-Chairman, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron, is himself a 1976 winner of the competition.
"Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search, and to all the finalists who participated in this year's competition. These students represent exactly the kind of extraordinary talent scientific progress depends on."
Regeneron extends sponsorship through 2036
Alongside the 2026 awards, Regeneron announced a 10-year extension of its title sponsorship of the competition through 2036.
The company pledged another $150 million to support STEM education programmes and scientific competitions run by Society for Science.
For Hill, the next step will be at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he plans to study computational mathematics from the autumn.
At 17, Connor Hill has managed to turn an obscure geometry problem into a prize worth $250,000 (around ₹2.39 crore). The student from Port Matilda, Pennsylvania, used a custom computer program to classify every possible version of a rare group of three-dimensional shapes, solving a long-standing mathematical problem in the process, according to a report by The Times of India.
Hill won the top prize at the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search, one of the oldest and most prestigious science and mathematics competitions for high school seniors in the United States.
His work established that there are exactly 146 isolated examples of the highly symmetrical shapes known as noble polyhedra, alongside two infinite structural families.
The announcement was made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Society for Science at a black-tie ceremony at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
Don't Miss: Meet Lakshmanan Meyyappan, the 21-year-old who became the world’s youngest Chartered Accountant at 16
The geometry problem Connor Hill set out to solve
Polyhedra are three-dimensional shapes made from flat polygonal faces and straight edges. Cubes, pyramids and octahedrons are some familiar examples.
A polyhedron is called noble when it has a high level of symmetry. Every face must have the same shape, while every vertex, or corner, must have the same arrangement of faces.
Noble polyhedra, however, can be considerably more complicated than familiar Platonic solids. They can include unusual and even self-intersecting shapes, making their complete classification a much harder mathematical challenge.
Mathematicians had already identified two infinite families of noble polyhedra. But the complete number of individual, isolated examples remained unknown.
By 2020, researchers had confirmed 61 isolated examples, but they believed more could exist because of increasingly complicated combinations of symmetry.
Hill tackled the problem by creating a computer program capable of systematically examining the possible geometric arrangements.
Rather than searching through an endless number of three-dimensional shapes directly, he translated the problem into algebraic equations, including polynomial equations. This reduced the problem to a finite set of possibilities that could be checked computationally.
The exhaustive search showed that there are exactly 146 isolated noble polyhedra, in addition to the two known infinite families.
‘I could narrow it down to a finite set’
Hill's interest in the problem began through his involvement in an online geometry community, where the classification of noble polyhedra had been discussed as an open mathematical challenge.
Explaining his approach, Hill said:
"By translating the problem into a different mathematical framework, I could narrow it down to a finite set that could actually be solved."
For Hill, the significance of mathematics goes beyond solving a single problem. He believes mathematical thinking can help researchers break down complicated scientific questions.
"Science gives us the concepts, but math allows us to formalize them and apply them. When we're solving big problems, the key is breaking them into smaller pieces that math can address. Often, breakthroughs happen when someone connects ideas across disciplines."
Dr. Henry Wei, Executive Director of Development Innovation at Regeneron, pointed out that Hill's approach of breaking a complicated problem into smaller, solvable parts is similar to methods used in modern biomedical research.
Scientists use mathematical models to study problems such as protein folding, disease development and how drugs interact with the body.
Hill hopes his computational method can eventually be used to study compound polyhedral structures and connected geometric networks.
Other teenagers also won major science prizes
The 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search awarded more than $1.8 million to 40 high school finalists. The finalists were selected from thousands of students who applied from across the United States.
Second place and a $175,000 prize went to 17-year-old Edward Kang of Hackensack, New Jersey. Kang developed an artificial intelligence screening tool called RetinaMind.
Kang trained machine learning models using retinal scans to identify subtle blood vessel patterns associated with autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He also created cellular models to study related genetic changes.
Third place and a $150,000 prize went to 17-year-old Iris Shen of The Woodlands, Texas. Shen studied possible treatments for blood cancer using clams as a testing model. She observed cellular responses that were similar to those seen in human drug trials.
Maya Ajmera, President and CEO of Society for Science and Executive Publisher of Science News, praised the finalists in an official statement.
"Congratulations to the winners of this year's Regeneron Science Talent Search. Their bold vision and perseverance reveal what the next generation of problem solvers truly looks like and why our future is in capable hands. Their creativity, ambition and courage to confront the world's toughest challenges are exactly what this moment demands."
Regeneron also highlighted the importance of supporting young researchers. Dr. George D. Yancopoulos, co-founder, Board Co-Chairman, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron, is himself a 1976 winner of the competition.
"Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search, and to all the finalists who participated in this year's competition. These students represent exactly the kind of extraordinary talent scientific progress depends on."
Regeneron extends sponsorship through 2036
Alongside the 2026 awards, Regeneron announced a 10-year extension of its title sponsorship of the competition through 2036.
The company pledged another $150 million to support STEM education programmes and scientific competitions run by Society for Science.
For Hill, the next step will be at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he plans to study computational mathematics from the autumn.