Connor Hill, a 17-year-old senior at Delta High School in State College, Pennsylvania, won the top $250,000 prize at the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search. He wrote a computer program that identified all 146 noble polyhedra, highly symmetric 3D shapes, outside two previously known infinite families, more than doubling the 61 examples mathematicians had catalogued before him.
Most high schoolers spend senior year worrying about college essays. Connor Hill spent his writing a computer program that closed a gap in geometry nobody had mapped out.
It won him the largest science prize available to a high schooler in the United States. Hill beat out nearly 2,600 applicants and 40 finalists at the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search, the US’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors, now in its 85th year.
What is a noble polyhedron?
A polyhedron is any 3D shape made of flat faces and straight edges, like a cube or a pyramid. A polyhedron is “noble” when every single face is identical and every single corner is identical too, symmetry taken to its most demanding form.
Mathematicians already knew about two infinite families of noble polyhedra — patterns that could, in theory, repeat forever. Outside those two families, only 61 individual noble polyhedra had ever been identified before Hill’s research. Nobody knew whether that list was complete, or just the shapes people had happened to find by hand.
How Connor Hill found 146 noble polyhedra
Instead of reasoning through the possibilities by hand, Hill wrote a computer program to systematically work through the space of conceivable noble polyhedra and test each one for validity.
The result: 146 noble polyhedra exist outside the two infinite families, more than double the 61 mathematicians had catalogued before. Hill’s program identified 85 previously unknown examples.
Who is Connor Hill?
Outside the geometry project, he’s a member of the Centre County 4-H Robotics Club — where he says he picked up most of what he knows about engineering. He runs a segment on his school’s news program, volunteers at a local environmental center’s summer camp, and practices juggling for hours a week. He’s also a self-described nature enthusiast, with trips to Costa Rica and California’s redwood forests among his favorite experiences.
About the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2026
The Regeneron Science Talent Search is the oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for US high school seniors, marking its 85th anniversary in 2026. Regeneron, title sponsor for the past decade, has committed to extending that sponsorship through 2036 with a $150 million pledge toward thenext generation of science and technology talent.
Two other students placed alongside Hill this cycle:
- Edward Kang (Hackensack, New Jersey) — 2nd place, $175,000, for RetinaMind, a tool using retinal imaging and AI to screen for patterns linked to autism and ADHD
- Iris Shen (The Woodlands, Texas) — 3rd place, $150,000, for testing a potential cancer drug in clams as a possible animal model for blood cancer drug discovery
FAQ
Who won the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search? Connor Hill, a 17-year-old from State College, Pennsylvania, won first place and $250,000 for his noble polyhedra research.
What are noble polyhedra? 3D shapes with flat faces and straight edges where every face is identical and every corner is identical — a rare, high-symmetry class of geometric solid.
How many noble polyhedra did Connor Hill discover? Hill’s algorithm confirmed 146 noble polyhedra exist outside two known infinite families, identifying 85 previously unknown examples beyond the 61 mathematicians already knew.
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